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CVE-2025-23368: The Infinite Keyring: Brute-Forcing WildFly Elytron (CVE-2025-23368)

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The Infinite Keyring: Brute-Forcing WildFly Elytron (CVE-2025-23368)

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2025-23368
CVSS Score: 8.1
Published: 2026-02-13

In the world of enterprise Java, WildFly (formerly JBoss) is a titan. But even titans have Achilles' heels. CVE-2025-23368 reveals a glaring oversight in the Elytron security framework: a complete lack of rate limiting on management interfaces. This deep dive explores how a missing wrapper class turned the WildFly management console into a brute-forcer's paradise, allowing attackers to hammer the authentication subsystem indefinitely until the doors swung open.

TL;DR

WildFly Elytron versions prior to 31.0.3 failed to restrict excessive authentication attempts on the management interface (port 9990). This allowed unauthenticated attackers to perform high-velocity brute-force attacks against administrator accounts. The fix introduces a decorator pattern to wrap security realms with rate-limiting logic.

⚠️ Exploit Status: POC

Technical Details

  • CWE: CWE-307 (Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts)
  • CVSS v3.1: 8.1 (High)
  • Attack Vector: Network (Port 9990)
  • Impact: High (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability)
  • Exploit Status: Functional PoC (Trivial)
  • Fix Complexity: Medium (Requires Patch & Config)

Affected Systems

  • Red Hat WildFly Core < 31.0.3
  • Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) 7.0
  • Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) 8.0
  • Red Hat Data Grid 8.0
  • Red Hat Build of Keycloak
  • WildFly Core: < 31.0.3 (Fixed in: 31.0.3)
  • JBoss EAP: 7.0.0 (Fixed in: See Advisory)
  • JBoss EAP: 8.0.0 (Fixed in: See Advisory)

Code Analysis

Commit: 11e8730

HAL-3677 / WFLY-19062: Add brute force detection to the management interface

Added BruteForceRealmWrapper and transformer logic to Elytron subsystem.
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Exploit Details

  • GitHub: Patch diff indicates logic for brute force detection, implying trivial exploitability via standard hydra/scripting tools.

Mitigation Strategies

  • Upgrade to WildFly Core 31.0.3 or JBoss EAP patched versions immediately.
  • Isolate the Management Interface (Port 9990) to a dedicated management VLAN or VPN.
  • Implement strong, complex password policies to increase the entropy required for successful brute-forcing.
  • Configure the new brute-force subsystem in Elytron to set strict lockout thresholds.

Remediation Steps:

  1. Identify all WildFly/JBoss instances exposing management ports.
  2. Apply the vendor-supplied patch from the Red Hat Customer Portal.
  3. Verify the patch by attempting a controlled brute-force attack (e.g., 10 failed logins) and confirming the account locks out.
  4. Review audit logs for CORE000000 or similar authentication failure events to detect past attempts.

References

Read the full report for CVE-2025-23368 on our website for more details including interactive diagrams and full exploit analysis.

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