Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-22609

Access Control in Coollabs Coolify ≤ 4.0.0

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
24 January 2025
Modified
19 September 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 10.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0074 51th percentile
Risk Priority 75 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-22609 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Coollabs Coolify. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-22609 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in Coolify, an open-source and self-hostable tool for managing servers, applications, and databases. Affecting versions prior to 4.0.0-beta.361, the flaw allows any authenticated user to attach any existing private key on a Coolify instance to their own server. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 10.0 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was published on 2025-01-24.

An attacker with any level of authentication on the Coolify instance can exploit this by attaching a victim's private key to a server they control, provided the IP/domain, port (typically 22), and user (such as root) match the victim's server configuration. This enables the attacker to access the Terminal feature and execute arbitrary commands on the victim's server, potentially leading to full compromise.

The official GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-3w2c-jfr2-9pg9) confirms that updating to version 4.0.0-beta.361 resolves the issue by implementing proper authorization checks. Security practitioners should prioritize patching affected Coolify instances and review access controls for authenticated users managing private keys and servers.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Coolify is an open-source and self-hostable tool for managing servers, applications, and databases. Prior to version 4.0.0-beta.361, the missing authorization allows any authenticated user to attach any existing private key on a coolify instance to his own server. If the…

more

server configuration of IP / domain, port (most likely 22) and user (root) matches with the victim's server configuration, then the attacker can use the `Terminal` feature and execute arbitrary commands on the victim's server. Version 4.0.0-beta.361 fixes the issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
T1556 Modify Authentication Process Defense Impairment
Adversaries may modify authentication mechanisms and processes to access user credentials or enable otherwise unwarranted access to accounts.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-22610Same product: Coollabs Coolify
CVE-2025-22611Same product: Coollabs Coolify
CVE-2025-22608Same product: Coollabs Coolify
CVE-2025-22612Same product: Coollabs Coolify
CVE-2025-22607Same product: Coollabs Coolify
CVE-2025-43838Shared CWE-862
CVE-2023-7268Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-1158Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-37427Shared CWE-862
CVE-2025-59561Shared CWE-862

Affected Assets

coollabs
coolify
4.0.0 · ≤ 4.0.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally eliminating missing authorization checks.

AC-24 mandates that access control decisions are applied to each request, preventing bypass of authorization logic.

AC-25 requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that ensures authorization checks cannot be omitted.

AC-6 reduces the set of actions reachable without proper authorization, limiting blast radius of missing checks.

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

Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.

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.

prevents

Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.

prevents

Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.

prevents

Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.

mitigates

Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.

finds

By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.

prevents

Defining authorization responsibilities and reviewing risk-treatment progress throughout the project lifecycle catches missing authorization checks before the system is deployed.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862

References