Actively exploited vulnerability
Wazuh Server: code execution flaw under attack
CVE-2025-24016 · Wazuh Server Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability
What is affected
Wazuh Server is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.
Wazuh contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability that allows for remote code execution on Wazuh servers.
What an attacker can do
This is a code execution flaw. It lets an attacker run their own commands or programs on the affected system. In practice that usually means taking it over: installing malware, stealing data or using it to reach other devices on the same network.
- How it is reached
- Over the internet or network
- Access the attacker needs
- A basic user account
- Does the victim have to do something?
- No, works without the victim doing anything
What to do
- At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
- If you administer Wazuh Server at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
- If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vendor advisories and fixes
- wazuh.comwazuh.com/blog/addressing-the-cve-2025-24016-vulnerability/
- github.comgithub.com/wazuh/wazuh/security/advisories/GHSA-hcrc-79hj-m3qh
How urgent is it
CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on June 10, 2025, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by July 1, 2025, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.
The EPSS model estimates a 94% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.8% of all scored vulnerabilities.
Its CVSS severity score is 9.9 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.
Technical description
Wazuh is a free and open source platform used for threat prevention, detection, and response. Starting in version 4.4.0 and prior to version 4.9.1, an unsafe deserialization vulnerability allows for remote code execution on Wazuh servers. DistributedAPI parameters are a serialized as JSON and deserialized using `as_wazuh_object` (in `framework/wazuh/core/cluster/common.py`). If an attacker manages to inject an unsanitized dictionary in DAPI request/response, they can forge an unhandled exception (`__unhandled_exc__`) to evaluate arbitrary python code. The vulnerability can be triggered by anybody with API access (compromised dashboard or Wazuh servers in the cluster) or, in certain configurations, even by a compromised agent. Version 4.9.1 contains a fix.