CVE-2025-52491 Overview
CVE-2025-52491 is a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability affecting Akamai CloudTest versions prior to 60 2025.06.09 (12989). The flaw allows an unauthenticated network attacker to coerce the CloudTest server into issuing arbitrary HTTP requests to targets of the attacker's choosing. Akamai addressed the issue in the June 9, 2025 release. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-918: Server-Side Request Forgery.
Critical Impact
Attackers can abuse the CloudTest server as a proxy to reach internal network resources, cloud metadata endpoints, and other assets not directly exposed to the internet.
Affected Products
- Akamai CloudTest versions before 60 2025.06.09 (12989)
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-06-09 - Akamai releases CloudTest build 60 2025.06.09 (12989) containing the fix, per the Akamai CloudTest Changelog
- 2025-06-30 - CVE-2025-52491 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-52491
Vulnerability Analysis
Akamai CloudTest is a cloud-based load and performance testing platform. The vulnerability lets a remote attacker submit a crafted request that causes the CloudTest server to issue outbound HTTP requests on behalf of the attacker. Because CloudTest generates test traffic against user-supplied targets, the SSRF primitive fits naturally into the application's request-forwarding functionality.
The attack requires no authentication and no user interaction. It executes over the network against the CloudTest management or test-execution surface. Successful exploitation changes the security scope, meaning the request originates from the trusted CloudTest host and inherits its network position.
Exploitation impact is limited to integrity of proxied requests. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) vector reports no direct confidentiality or availability loss, but SSRF frequently enables secondary attacks such as internal service enumeration, cloud instance metadata theft, and unauthenticated access to internal HTTP APIs.
Root Cause
The root cause is insufficient validation of user-controlled URLs before the server performs an outbound HTTP request. CloudTest fails to enforce an allow-list of destinations or block requests targeting private, loopback, link-local, and cloud metadata address ranges. Public disclosure details beyond the changelog entry are limited.
Attack Vector
An attacker sends a crafted request to a CloudTest endpoint that accepts a URL or hostname parameter. CloudTest resolves the target and issues a server-side HTTP request. The attacker substitutes internal targets such as http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/ on AWS, http://metadata.google.internal/ on GCP, or http://127.0.0.1: combinations to reach loopback services. The server returns response data or side-channel signals that reveal reachability of internal assets.
No verified public proof-of-concept code is available. Refer to the Akamai CloudTest Product Overview and the vendor changelog for authoritative technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-52491
Indicators of Compromise
- Outbound HTTP requests from CloudTest hosts to RFC1918, loopback (127.0.0.0/8), or link-local (169.254.0.0/16) addresses
- CloudTest access logs containing external requests where URL parameters reference internal hostnames or cloud metadata endpoints
- Unexpected authentication or API calls originating from the CloudTest server identity toward internal services
Detection Strategies
- Inspect CloudTest application logs for user-supplied target URLs that resolve to non-routable or metadata IP ranges
- Correlate CloudTest egress traffic with expected test-target inventories and alert on deviations
- Deploy network monitoring rules that flag requests from CloudTest instances to cloud instance metadata service (IMDS) endpoints
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enforce IMDSv2 on AWS to require session tokens and neutralize basic SSRF against 169.254.169.254
- Capture NetFlow or VPC flow logs for the CloudTest subnet and baseline normal destinations
- Alert on DNS queries from CloudTest servers that resolve to internal or reserved address space
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-52491
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade Akamai CloudTest to build 60 2025.06.09 (12989) or later immediately
- Restrict outbound network access from CloudTest hosts using egress filtering to only approved test targets
- Review CloudTest audit logs for suspicious outbound requests dating back to before the patch was applied
Patch Information
Akamai fixed the SSRF issue in CloudTest build 60 2025.06.09 (12989), released June 9, 2025. Deployment details and the full changelog are available in the Akamai CloudTest Changelog. Customers using the SaaS-hosted version should confirm with Akamai support that their tenant runs the patched build.
Workarounds
- Place CloudTest instances in a segmented network with no route to internal management interfaces or cloud metadata services
- Require IMDSv2 on cloud-hosted CloudTest workloads to block token-less metadata access
- Apply firewall rules that deny outbound traffic from CloudTest hosts to RFC1918 and link-local ranges except for explicitly required destinations
# Example egress restriction for a CloudTest host (iptables)
iptables -A OUTPUT -s <cloudtest-host-ip> -d 169.254.169.254 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -s <cloudtest-host-ip> -d 127.0.0.0/8 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -s <cloudtest-host-ip> -d 10.0.0.0/8 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -s <cloudtest-host-ip> -d 172.16.0.0/12 -j DROP
iptables -A OUTPUT -s <cloudtest-host-ip> -d 192.168.0.0/16 -j DROP
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
