Openfire allows potential identity spoofing via unsafe CN parsing
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-290.
Summary
Openfire is an XMPP server licensed under the Open Source Apache License. Openfire’s SASL EXTERNAL mechanism for client TLS authentication contains a vulnerability in how it extracts user identities from X.509 certificates. Instead of parsing the structured ASN.1 data, the code calls X509Certificate.getSubjectDN().getName() and applies a regex to look for CN=. This method produces a provider-dependent string that does not escape special characters. In SunJSSE (sun.security.x509.X500Name), for example, commas and equals signs inside attribute values are not escaped. As a result, a malicious certificate can embed CN= inside another attribute value (e.g. OU="CN=admin,"). The regex will incorrectly interpret this as a legitimate Common Name and extract admin. If SASL EXTERNAL is enabled and configured to map CNs to user accounts, this allows the attacker to impersonate another user. The fix is included in Openfire 5.0.2 and 5.1.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| igniterealtime | Openfire | before 5.0.2 | 5.0.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | org.igniterealtime.openfire:xmppserver (Maven) | before 5.0.2 | 5.0.2 | Patch available | GHSA-w252-645g-87mp |
- Openfire Vendorigniterealtime Affected before 5.0.2 Fixed in 5.0.2 Patch available CNA
- org.igniterealtime.openfire:xmppserver (Maven) Vendor— Affected before 5.0.2 Fixed in 5.0.2 Patch available GHSA-w252-645g-87mp
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Openfire (igniterealtime) Fixed in 5.0.2
- Fix · GHSA-w252-645g-87mp org.igniterealtime.openfire:xmppserver (Maven) Fixed in 5.0.2 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-59154
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-w252-645g-87mp
References
Other 6
- https://github.com/igniterealtime/Openfire/security/advisories/GHSA-w252-645g-87mp
- https://github.com/igniterealtime/Openfire/blob/8d073dda36905da0fdee7cb623c025a01a5cbf6b/xmppserver/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/util/cert/CNCertificateIdentityMapping.java#L43
- https://igniterealtime.atlassian.net/browse/OF-3122
- https://igniterealtime.atlassian.net/browse/OF-3123
- https://igniterealtime.atlassian.net/browse/OF-3124
- https://github.com/igniterealtime/Openfire
More igniterealtime vulnerabilities
- TI-2023-15609 Openfire administration console authentication bypass KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2024-16737 An issue in Ignite Realtime Openfire v.4.9.0 and before allows a remote attacker to… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2021-20964 An issue was discovered in Pascom Cloud Phone System before 7.20.x. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2008-06198 Directory traversal vulnerability in the AuthCheck filter in the Admin Console in… CVSS 2.0HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-16736 An issue in Ignite Realtime Openfire before 4.8.1 allows a remote attacker to escalate… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
- TI-2019-13396 A Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in FaviconServlet.java in Ignite… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2025-59154 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-59154 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-w252-645g-87mp · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences