Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-52024

Access Control in Aptsys Gemscms Backend ≤ 2025-05-28

Published
23 January 2026
Modified
05 July 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 9.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0041 34th percentile
Risk Priority 68 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-52024 is a critical-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Aptsys Gemscms Backend. Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 34th 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-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) — 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-2025-52024 affects the Aptsys POS Platform Web Services module through 2025-05-28. The vulnerability exposes internal API testing tools to unauthenticated users via specific URLs, presenting a directory-style index listing all available backend services and POS web services. Each service includes an HTML form for submitting test input, intended solely for developer use but accessible in production environments without any authentication or session validation.

Unauthenticated attackers with network access can exploit this vulnerability due to its low attack complexity and lack of required privileges. By accessing the exposed panels, they can discover, test, and execute API endpoints performing critical functions, including user transaction retrieval, credit adjustments, POS actions, and internal data queries. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.4 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L) and maps to CWEs 306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function), 425 (Direct Request ('Forced Browsing')), and 862 (Missing Authorization).

Advisories and further details, including potential mitigation guidance, are available at http://aptsys.com and https://gist.github.com/ReverseThatApp/4a6be2b9b2ba39d38c35c8753e0afd39.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability exists in the Aptsys POS Platform Web Services module thru 2025-05-28, which exposes internal API testing tools to unauthenticated users. By accessing specific URLs, an attacker is presented with a directory-style index listing all available backend services and…

more

POS web services, each with an HTML form for submitting test input. These panels are intended for developer use, but are accessible in production environments with no authentication or session validation. This grants any external actor the ability to discover, test, and execute API endpoints that perform critical functions including but not limited to user transaction retrieval, credit adjustments, POS actions, and internal data queries.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within 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.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-70141Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2026-44320Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2026-41477Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2025-70146Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2026-31245Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2026-25058Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2022-23944Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2025-2407Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2026-60712Shared CWE-306, CWE-862
CVE-2026-42297Shared CWE-425, CWE-862

Affected Assets

aptsys
gemscms backend
≤ 2025-05-28

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 11 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.3
  • V6.4.4
  • V10.4.16
  • V12.1.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorizations for access to resources such as URLs, scripts, and files, structurally preventing forced browsing.

Directly mandates unique identification and authentication of users before access to functions requiring identity.

Extends the same authentication requirement to non-organizational users accessing critical functionality.

Requires authentication of services before they can invoke or expose critical functions.

Explicitly identifies and limits actions permitted without authentication, preventing critical functions from being exposed.

AC-24 requires that access-control decisions be applied to every request, addressing the missing enforcement on restricted URLs.

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-03 full match
prevents

Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.

PR.AA-05 full match
prevents

Directly requires policy-driven definition, enforcement, and review of authorizations on resources such as URLs.

PR.IR-01 mostly match
prevents

Protects environments from unauthorized logical access, which includes preventing direct requests to restricted paths.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.

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

The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.

finds

Security testing can detect forced-browsing flaws, but the control itself does not prevent them in production.

prevents

Information access restriction implements the technical enforcement that directly blocks unauthorized direct requests.

prevents

Access control policy directly requires authorization checks on all resources, preventing forced browsing.

degrades

Managing access rights ensures every URL/script/file is explicitly authorized, mitigating direct request attacks.

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.

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 (4 rules)
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-248585 OL 8 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
  • V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
RHEL 7 (4 rules)
  • V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
  • 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
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
  • V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
  • V-237643 RHEL 8 must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306

References