CVE-2025-9954: Acquia DAM Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-9954 Overview

A Missing Authorization vulnerability exists in the Drupal Acquia DAM module that enables attackers to perform Forceful Browsing attacks. This vulnerability allows unauthorized users to bypass access controls and directly access resources that should require proper authorization. The flaw stems from inadequate authorization checks on certain endpoints or resources within the Acquia DAM integration for Drupal.

Critical Impact

Unauthorized access to protected digital assets managed by Acquia DAM, potentially exposing sensitive media files and confidential content to unauthenticated attackers via network-based exploitation.

Affected Products

• Acquia DAM versions 0.0.0 through 1.1.4 (Drupal module)
• Drupal sites utilizing the Acquia DAM integration module
• Organizations leveraging Acquia DAM for digital asset management within Drupal CMS

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-10-30 - CVE-2025-9954 published to NVD
• 2025-12-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-9954

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), indicating that the Acquia DAM module fails to implement proper access control checks before granting access to protected resources. The weakness allows attackers to leverage Forceful Browsing techniques—directly requesting URLs or resources that should be restricted—to access digital assets without proper authentication or authorization verification.

The network-based attack vector means that remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability without any prior authentication or user interaction. The primary impact is on confidentiality, as attackers can gain unauthorized read access to protected digital assets stored within the DAM system.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-9954 lies in the absence of proper authorization checks within the Acquia DAM module for Drupal. When processing requests for digital assets or related resources, the module fails to verify whether the requesting user has the appropriate permissions to access the requested content. This allows attackers to craft direct requests to resource endpoints and bypass the intended access control mechanisms that should protect sensitive digital assets.

Attack Vector

The attack leverages Forceful Browsing, a technique where an attacker directly accesses URLs or resources by manipulating or guessing the URL structure. In the context of this vulnerability:

1. An attacker identifies the URL patterns used by the Acquia DAM module to serve digital assets
2. The attacker crafts direct requests to these resource endpoints without going through proper authentication flows
3. Due to missing authorization checks, the server returns the requested content without verifying the attacker's permissions
4. The attacker gains unauthorized access to potentially sensitive digital assets including images, documents, videos, and other media files managed by the DAM system

Since no verified code examples are available, refer to the Drupal Security Advisory for detailed technical information about the vulnerability mechanics.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-9954

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual access patterns to Acquia DAM asset URLs from unauthenticated sessions
• High volume of direct requests to DAM resource endpoints bypassing normal navigation paths
• Access log entries showing requests to DAM assets without corresponding authentication events
• Anomalous traffic patterns indicating systematic enumeration of asset URLs

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web server access logs for direct requests to Acquia DAM asset paths without prior authentication
• Implement alerting for sequential or pattern-based requests to DAM resource endpoints that suggest automated enumeration
• Analyze user session data to identify asset access attempts without valid session tokens
• Deploy web application firewall rules to detect and block Forceful Browsing patterns targeting DAM resources

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all Acquia DAM module requests and access attempts
• Configure SIEM rules to correlate DAM asset access with user authentication events
• Implement rate limiting on DAM resource endpoints to slow potential enumeration attacks
• Review access logs regularly for signs of unauthorized asset access or reconnaissance activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-9954

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Acquia DAM module to version 1.1.5 or later immediately
• Audit access logs for evidence of unauthorized asset access prior to patching
• Review digital assets managed by the DAM for any sensitive content that may have been exposed
• Implement additional access controls at the web server level as a temporary defense layer

Patch Information

The vulnerability is addressed in Acquia DAM version 1.1.5. Administrators should update their Drupal installations to this version or later. The security advisory is available at the Drupal Security Advisory page with complete patch details and installation instructions.

Workarounds

• Implement web application firewall rules to restrict direct access to DAM asset endpoints
• Configure Drupal's access control settings to add additional authorization layers for DAM resources
• Restrict DAM module access to authenticated users only at the server configuration level
• Consider temporarily disabling public-facing DAM functionality until the patch can be applied

# Drupal module update via Composer
composer update drupal/acquia_dam --with-dependencies
drush cr
drush updb