CVE-2025-67109: Eclipse Cyclone DDS Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-67109 Overview

CVE-2025-67109 is a critical Certificate Validation Bypass vulnerability affecting Eclipse Cyclone Data Distribution Service (DDS) before version 0.10.5. The vulnerability stems from improper verification of time certificates in the authentication module, allowing remote attackers to bypass certificate validity checks and execute commands with System privileges.

Eclipse Cyclone DDS is a widely-used open-source implementation of the Data Distribution Service standard, commonly deployed in robotics, autonomous vehicles, industrial IoT, and other real-time distributed systems. The improper time certificate validation creates a dangerous attack surface for adversaries targeting critical infrastructure.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers can bypass certificate authentication checks to execute arbitrary commands with System privileges on affected systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise without requiring any user interaction or authentication.

Affected Products

Eclipse Cyclone Data Distribution Service versions prior to 0.10.5
Systems implementing Cyclone DDS security plugins for authentication
Applications using Cyclone DDS built-in authentication mechanisms

Discovery Timeline

2025-12-23 - CVE-2025-67109 published to NVD
2026-01-06 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-67109

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-298 (Improper Validation of Certificate Expiration), which occurs when a certificate's expiration date is not properly checked or enforced. In the context of Eclipse Cyclone DDS, the authentication subsystem fails to adequately verify time-based certificate constraints, creating a pathway for attackers to use expired or otherwise invalid certificates.

The flaw resides in the authentication utilities within the security built-in plugins. When processing certificates during the authentication handshake, the time validation logic does not correctly evaluate the certificate's validity period. This allows an attacker to present certificates that should be rejected due to expiration or timing issues, effectively bypassing the entire certificate-based authentication mechanism.

The vulnerability is network-accessible without requiring authentication or user interaction, and successful exploitation results in privilege escalation to System-level access. The scope is changed, meaning exploitation can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component itself.

Root Cause

The root cause lies in the improper handling of time certificate verification within the auth_utils.c module. The time retrieval and comparison logic in the POSIX time implementation (time.c) interacts incorrectly with the certificate validation routines, allowing certificates with invalid time constraints to pass verification checks. This architectural flaw in the security plugin's time handling creates a condition where temporal certificate constraints are not enforced, permitting authentication bypass.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and can be executed remotely without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious network packets containing specially constructed certificates with manipulated time fields. When these certificates are processed by a vulnerable Cyclone DDS instance, the improper time validation allows the attacker to:

Present expired or not-yet-valid certificates that would normally be rejected
Bypass the authentication handshake entirely
Gain unauthorized access to the DDS domain
Execute commands with elevated System privileges on the target system

The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in environments where Cyclone DDS is used for critical real-time systems, as it could allow attackers to inject malicious commands or data into distributed systems controlling physical processes.

Technical details regarding the vulnerability can be found in the GitHub Code Reference - Auth Utils and the GitHub Code Reference - Time. Additional information is available through the GitHub Gist Code Snippet.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-67109

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected authentication success events with certificates that have invalid validity periods
Network traffic containing DDS security handshake packets with anomalous certificate timestamps
Process execution with System privileges from DDS-related services
Log entries indicating certificate processing with timestamps outside expected validity windows

Detection Strategies

Monitor DDS authentication logs for successful authentications using certificates with expired or future validity dates
Implement network intrusion detection rules to identify malformed DDS security handshake packets
Deploy endpoint detection to alert on privilege escalation attempts originating from DDS service processes
Analyze certificate chains presented during DDS authentication for temporal anomalies

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on Cyclone DDS security plugins to capture certificate validation details
Implement network monitoring on ports used by DDS communications (typically UDP 7400-7500 range)
Configure SIEM alerts for authentication bypass patterns in DDS environments
Monitor for unusual process creation events associated with DDS service accounts

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-67109

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Eclipse Cyclone DDS to version 0.10.5 or later immediately
Audit existing certificate configurations and ensure all certificates have valid time constraints
Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of DDS services to trusted networks only
Review system logs for evidence of exploitation attempts

Patch Information

Eclipse has addressed this vulnerability in Cyclone DDS version 0.10.5. Organizations running affected versions should upgrade immediately to remediate the certificate validation bypass. The fix implements proper time validation in the authentication module to ensure certificates are correctly evaluated against their validity periods.

For additional information, refer to the Eclipse Official Website and the official Cyclone DDS GitHub repository.

Workarounds

Restrict network access to DDS services using firewall rules to allow only trusted endpoints
Implement additional authentication layers (mutual TLS, VPN) before DDS communication channels
Monitor and alert on all DDS authentication events until patching is complete
Consider temporarily disabling DDS security plugins if the application context permits unsecured operation in isolated environments

bash

# Network isolation example - restrict DDS traffic to trusted subnet
# Adjust ports and IP ranges according to your deployment
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 7400:7500 -s 10.0.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 7400:7500 -j DROP