The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an urgent security advisory after adding a critical vulnerability in Broadcom’s Brocade Fabric OS-tracked as CVE-2025-1976 its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog.
This flaw, which affects widely used storage area network (SAN) infrastructure, has raised significant concern among government and enterprise security teams due to its potential for system-wide compromise.
CVE-2025-1976: Technical Overview
CVE-2025-1976 is a code injection vulnerability that allows a local user with administrative privileges to inject and execute arbitrary code with full root access on affected systems.
The vulnerability is present in Brocade Fabric OS versions 9.1.0 through 9.1.1d6, and has been addressed in version 9.1.1d7.
The flaw arises from improper IP address validation, enabling an attacker with admin credentials to modify the OS, execute any command, or even add malicious subroutines.
While root access was intended to be removed starting with version 9.1.0, this vulnerability effectively restores that level of control to anyone able to exploit it.
CISA notes that, although exploitation requires administrative privileges, attackers may use stolen credentials or chain this flaw with other vulnerabilities to gain access.
Risk and Potential Impact
Broadcom Brocade Fabric OS is a critical component in many data centers, particularly for organizations managing large-scale storage networks.
A successful exploit could allow attackers to:
- Modify network configurations
- Disrupt operations
- Exfiltrate or destroy sensitive data
Given the foundational role of Brocade Fabric OS in enterprise and critical infrastructure environments, the consequences of exploitation could be severe, including operational downtime and significant data loss.
CISA Recommendations
CISA strongly urges organizations to immediately apply vendor-provided mitigations or upgrade to secure versions.
Where this is not possible, discontinuing use of vulnerable versions is advised.
Federal agencies must comply by May 19, 2025, per Binding Operational Directive 22-01.
All organizations should audit their systems for affected versions and prioritize patching to reduce exposure to active threats.
CISA will continue monitoring for evidence of exploitation, especially in ransomware campaigns, and recommends all organizations maintain robust access controls and review credential management practices.
Risk Factor Table
| Risk Factor | Description | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|
| Privilege Required | Local admin access needed for exploitation | Medium |
| Exploitability | Exploitable if attacker gains admin credentials | High |
| Impact if Exploited | Full root access, system modification, data exfiltration/disruption | Critical |
| Affected Versions | Brocade Fabric OS 9.1.0 through 9.1.1d6 | High |
| Patch Availability | Fixed in 9.1.1d7 | Mitigated |
| Prevalence in Critical Infra | Widely deployed in enterprise and government data centers | High |
| Public Exploit Availability | No public exploit code, but evidence of active exploitation in the wild | High |
| Mitigation Difficulty | Straightforward if patch applied; challenging if legacy systems in use | Variable |
Organizations are urged to act swiftly to secure their infrastructure and prevent potential exploitation of this critical vulnerability.
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