A vulnerability exists in NGINX Ingress Controller's nginx
Description
A vulnerability exists in NGINX Ingress Controller's nginx
AI Analyst Comment
Remediation
Apply vendor security updates immediately. Monitor for exploitation attempts and review access logs.
Description Summary:
A path traversal vulnerability exists in the NGINX Ingress Controller due to improper validation of the nginx.org/rewrite-target annotation.
Executive Summary:
An authenticated path traversal vulnerability in the F5 NGINX Ingress Controller allows attackers to bypass security controls, posing a significant risk of unauthorized resource access.
Vulnerability Details
CVE-ID: CVE-2025-14727
Affected Software: F5 NGINX Ingress Controller
Affected Versions: 5.3.0 up to (excluding) 5.3.1
Vulnerability: This flaw is classified as a path traversal (CWE-22) residing in the validation logic for the rewrite-target annotation. The CVSS vector (PR:L) indicates that an attacker must possess low-level privileges to successfully trigger this vulnerability.
Business Impact
The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 8.3, reflecting a high severity due to the potential for significant unauthorized access to system resources. A successful exploit could lead to data compromise or unauthorized modification of backend services, potentially resulting in service disruption or exposure of sensitive infrastructure data.
Remediation Plan
Immediate Action: Upgrade to NGINX Ingress Controller version 5.3.1 or ensure the installation is running on a supported, unaffected version such as 5.2.0, 5.1.0, 5.0.0, or 4.0.0.
Proactive Monitoring: Review ingress controller access logs for suspicious rewrite-target annotation usage or patterns indicative of traversal attempts, such as sequences involving double dots or unexpected file paths.
Compensating Controls: Deploy or tune Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to inspect and sanitize ingress controller annotations, specifically looking for and blocking attempts to inject directory traversal patterns.
Exploitation Status
Public Exploit Available: Unknown.
Analyst Notes: As of December 19, 2025, there is no public information indicating active exploitation or a public proof-of-concept for this vulnerability. While exploitation requires authenticated access, the ability to traverse paths within the ingress configuration remains a high-risk vector for environment compromise.
Analyst Recommendation
Given the high CVSS score and the nature of the vulnerability, organizations should prioritize patching their NGINX Ingress Controller instances. Administrators must verify their current version against the fixed releases provided by F5 and apply the update immediately to prevent potential exploitation of the rewrite-target annotation.