CVE-2025-45616: Baidu Brcc Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-45616 Overview

CVE-2025-45616 is a Broken Access Control vulnerability in Baidu BRCC (Baidu Remote Configuration Center), a distributed configuration management platform. The vulnerability exists in the /admin/** API endpoints of brcc version 1.2.0, where incorrect access control implementation allows unauthenticated attackers to gain administrative rights via crafted HTTP requests. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control).

Critical Impact

Attackers can bypass authentication mechanisms and gain full administrative access to the BRCC configuration management system, potentially compromising all applications relying on the configuration center.

Affected Products

• Baidu BRCC version 1.2.0
• Applications using the /admin/** API endpoints
• Distributed systems relying on BRCC for configuration management

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-05 - CVE-2025-45616 published to NVD
• 2025-10-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-45616

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a fundamental flaw in the access control mechanism of Baidu BRCC's administrative API. The /admin/** API endpoints lack proper authentication and authorization checks, allowing any network-accessible attacker to submit crafted requests that bypass intended security restrictions. Once exploited, an attacker gains complete administrative privileges over the configuration management system.

The impact of this vulnerability is severe because BRCC serves as a centralized configuration management platform for distributed systems. Compromising administrative access could allow attackers to modify configurations across all connected applications, potentially leading to further system compromise, data exfiltration, or service disruption.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper implementation of access control on the /admin/** API endpoints. The application fails to properly validate authentication credentials or authorization tokens before processing administrative requests. This allows attackers to craft requests that the system incorrectly treats as authorized administrative actions.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires no authentication or user interaction. An attacker with network access to the BRCC application can send specially crafted HTTP requests to the /admin/** API endpoints. The lack of proper access controls means these requests are processed with administrative privileges, granting the attacker full control over the configuration management system.

The vulnerability can be exploited by sending HTTP requests directly to the administrative API endpoints. Without proper authentication enforcement, the application processes these requests as if they originated from a legitimate administrator. For detailed technical information, refer to the GitHub Issue on BRCC.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-45616

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected or unauthorized HTTP requests to /admin/** API endpoints
• Administrative configuration changes without corresponding legitimate administrator activity
• New administrative user accounts or modified permissions in BRCC
• Anomalous access patterns to the configuration management system from unknown IP addresses

Detection Strategies

• Monitor HTTP access logs for requests to /admin/** endpoints from unexpected sources
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and alert on unauthorized administrative API access attempts
• Deploy intrusion detection signatures for unusual patterns in BRCC administrative traffic
• Enable authentication logging to identify requests bypassing normal authentication flows

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure real-time alerting for any access to administrative endpoints without valid authentication
• Establish baseline behavior for administrative API usage and alert on deviations
• Monitor for configuration changes that occur outside of normal change management windows
• Implement network segmentation monitoring to detect lateral movement after potential exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-45616

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the BRCC /admin/** API endpoints using firewall rules or network segmentation
• Implement reverse proxy authentication in front of the BRCC application to enforce access controls
• Audit current BRCC configurations and administrative accounts for unauthorized changes
• Consider taking the BRCC administrative interface offline until proper access controls can be implemented

Patch Information

No official vendor patch information is currently available. Users should monitor the GitHub Issue on BRCC for updates from Baidu regarding a security fix. In the absence of an official patch, organizations should implement the recommended workarounds and network-level controls.

Workarounds

• Place BRCC behind a VPN or secure network segment accessible only to authorized administrators
• Deploy a reverse proxy with strong authentication (e.g., mutual TLS or OAuth) in front of the application
• Implement IP allowlisting to restrict access to administrative endpoints to known trusted addresses
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) configured to block unauthorized requests to /admin/** paths

# Example nginx reverse proxy configuration with basic authentication
location /admin/ {
    auth_basic "BRCC Admin Access";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    allow 10.0.0.0/8;
    deny all;
    proxy_pass http://brcc-backend:8080;
}