# CVE-2025-2538: BUG-000174336

> Remote attackers can gain administrative access via hardcoded credentials in specific Esri Portal for ArcGIS deployments.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Mar 2025
- **Updated:** 26 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9hr4-7h76-8f5h

## What is CVE-2025-2538?

CVE-2025-2538 is a critical vulnerability in Esri Portal for Arcgis, published on 20 Mar 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A hardcoded credential vulnerability exists in a specific deployment pattern for Esri Portal for ArcGIS versions 11.4 and below that may allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to gain administrative access to the system.

Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-2538?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Esri Portal for Arcgis.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-2538?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-2538 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-2538 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-2538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Esri Portal for Arcgis

- [CVE-2024-25693](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-25693/): Portal for ArcGIS has a directory traversal vulnerability. (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-13019](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13019/): Missing Authentication (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-33518](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33518/): Incorrect privilege assignment in Portal for ArcGIS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-33519](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33519/): Incorrect privilege assignment in Portal for ArcGIS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-4967](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-4967/): Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in Portal for ArcGIS (critical 9.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-2538 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-2538 is a critical vulnerability in Esri Portal for Arcgis, published on 20 Mar 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-2538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Esri Portal for Arcgis. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-2538/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-2538/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-2538
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-2538
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-2538

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-2538/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.