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Critical Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability in WatchGuard Firebox Firewalls Exploited in the Wild

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Last updated
3 unique sources, 6 articles

Summary

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Over 75,000 WatchGuard Firebox network security appliances are exposed on the public web and vulnerable to a critical remote code execution flaw (CVE-2025-9242) that allows remote attackers to execute code without authentication. This vulnerability affects devices running Fireware OS 11.x, 12.x, and 2025.1, particularly those configured to use IKEv2 VPN. Devices may remain vulnerable even if the IKEv2 VPN configurations have been deleted. WatchGuard has released patches and provided a temporary workaround for administrators who cannot immediately update their devices. The vulnerability is actively being exploited in the wild, and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added CVE-2025-9242 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on November 13, 2025, based on evidence of active exploitation. Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies are advised to apply WatchGuard's patches by December 3, 2025. The Shadowserver Foundation detected over 71,000 vulnerable devices as of October 17, 2025. As of November 12, 2025, over 54,300 Firebox instances remain vulnerable, with the U.S. having the highest number of vulnerable devices at 18,500.

Timeline

  1. 13.11.2025 09:23 2 articles · 1d ago

    CISA adds CVE-2025-9242 to KEV catalog due to active exploitation

    CISA has added CVE-2025-9242 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog and has given Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies three weeks, until December 3, to secure their systems against ongoing attacks as mandated by the Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01. WatchGuard released security patches to address the vulnerability on September 17, but only tagged it as exploited in attacks almost one month later, on October 21. The number of vulnerable Firebox appliances worldwide has fallen to just over 54,000, according to Shadowserver's latest statistics, most of them located in Europe and North America.

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  2. 18.09.2025 11:23 5 articles · 1mo ago

    WatchGuard releases patches for critical out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Firebox firewalls

    The vulnerability affects mobile user VPN with IKEv2 and the branch office VPN (BOVPN) using IKEv2 when configured with a dynamic gateway peer. The Shadowserver Foundation detected over 71,000 vulnerable devices as of October 17, 2025. As of November 12, 2025, over 54,300 Firebox instances remain vulnerable, with the U.S. having the highest number of vulnerable devices at 18,500.

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Information Snippets

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