Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2025-68435 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness (CWE-305) vulnerability in Nicotsx Zerobyte. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 31th 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 IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) and IA-8 (Identification and Authentication (Non-organizational Users)) — 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-2025-68435 is an authentication bypass vulnerability affecting Zerobyte, an open-source backup automation tool. Versions prior to 0.18.5 and 0.19.0 fail to properly apply authentication middleware to certain API endpoints, allowing unauthorized access without valid session credentials. The issue, mapped to CWE-305 (Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness), carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N), indicating critical severity due to high impacts on confidentiality and integrity.
Remote attackers with network access to a Zerobyte instance can exploit this vulnerability without privileges, user interaction, or special conditions. By directly targeting unprotected API endpoints, they can achieve high-level unauthorized access, potentially reading sensitive backup data or modifying configurations and operations, especially in deployments exposed beyond internal networks.
The Zerobyte security advisory (GHSA-x539-c98q-38gv) and related GitHub issue (#161) detail patches in versions 0.18.5 and 0.19.0 via commit 13e080a18967705bd2b4e110e5f7693fdca1c692. Immediate upgrades are recommended; as a temporary measure, administrators should restrict network access to trusted networks using firewall rules or segmentation.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-204006
Vulnerability Data
Zerobyte is a backup automation tool Zerobyte versions prior to 0.18.5 and 0.19.0 contain an authentication bypass vulnerability where authentication middleware is not properly applied to API endpoints. This results in certain API endpoints being accessible without valid session credentials.…
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This is dangerous for those who have exposed Zerobyte to be used outside of their internal network. A fix has been applied in both version 0.19.0 and 0.18.5. If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict network access to the Zerobyte instance to trusted networks only using firewall rules or network segmentation. This is only a temporary mitigation; upgrading is strongly recommended.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.4.3V7.2.4
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires unique identification and authentication of users, structurally blocking bypass of the mechanism.
Requires unique identification and authentication of non-organizational users, blocking bypass paths.
Enforces approved authorizations so a bypass weakness cannot be exploited to reach resources.
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.
Secure development practices throughout the SDLC prevent the primary weaknesses that enable authentication bypass.
Strong authentication mechanisms and policy enforcement directly reduce bypass opportunities arising from implementation flaws.
Identifying and recording vulnerabilities catches the primary weaknesses that allow authentication bypass.
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.
Security testing can detect authentication bypass conditions before deployment.
Secure development lifecycle reduces likelihood of introducing bypass flaws during implementation.
Secure coding practices help prevent the primary weakness that enables authentication bypass.
Information access restriction complements authentication by limiting what can be reached even if bypass occurs.
Secure authentication mechanisms directly address bypass risks in the implemented authentication process.
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).
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
- V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-305
Ubuntu 24.04 (1 rule)
- V-270675 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS when booted must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-305