Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-20387

Splunk 9.2.0 – 9.2.10

Published
03 December 2025
Modified
05 December 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0049 39th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-20387 is a high-severity Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (CWE-732) vulnerability in Splunk Splunk. Its CVSS base score is 8.0 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 39th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Splunk Universal Forwarder for Windows versions below 10.0.2, 9.4.6, 9.3.8, and 9.2.10, a new installation of or an upgrade to an affected version can result in incorrect permissions assignment in the Universal Forwarder for Windows Installation directory. This lets…

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non-administrator users on the machine access the directory and all its contents.

CWE(s)
CWE-732

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-20142Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2025-20319Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-45738Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2023-32711Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-29946Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2023-32712Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-29945Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-36984Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-45734Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2023-22942Same product: Splunk Splunk

Affected Assets

splunk
splunk
9.2.0 — 9.2.10 · 9.3.0 — 9.3.8 · 9.4.0 — 9.4.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • CM-6 Configuration Settings
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 7 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match
prevent

Directly enforces access permissions on the Universal Forwarder installation directory so that only authorized administrators can access its contents.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match
prevent

Requires that the installation directory and its files receive only the minimum privileges needed, preventing non-administrator users from accessing them.

CM-6 Configuration Settings partial match
prevent

Mandates applying secure configuration settings (including file-system permissions) to the Splunk Universal Forwarder during initial install or upgrade.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 full match
prevents

Directly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing access permissions and least privilege on resources.

PR.PS-01 mostly match
prevents

Hardened baselines and configuration management explicitly include correct permission settings for critical resources.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.15 Access control mostly match
prevents

By requiring owners to determine and document the exact permissions needed for each asset, the control reduces the likelihood that default or overly permissive file and resource permissions will be left in place.

A.5.18 Access rights mostly match
prevents

Documented provisioning and revocation procedures reduce the chance that critical resources retain overly permissive default or leftover permissions after personnel changes.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights mostly match
prevents

Documented authorization, expiry rules, and audit logging of privileged accounts make it harder for critical resources to retain overly permissive or stale permission assignments.

A.8.3 Information access restriction mostly match
prevents

Requiring explicit configuration of access controls and permissions for files, applications and services counters the assignment of overly permissive default or incorrect file-system rights.

A.8.4 Access to source code mostly match
prevents

Enforcing differentiated permissions on the source-code repository and program listings stops the assignment of overly broad default or inherited permissions to critical resources.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

By defining and enforcing secure permission settings in configuration templates, the control reduces the likelihood that critical resources receive incorrect permission assignments.

References