CVE-2025-57738 Apache Syncope: Remote Code Execution by delegated administrators
Malicious administrators can inject Groovy code to achieve remote code execution on Apache Syncope instances.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-57738?
CVE-2025-57738 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Apache Syncope, published on 20 Oct 2025. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Apache Syncope offers the ability to extend / customize the base behavior on every deployment by allowing to provide custom implementations of a few Java interfaces; such implementations can be provided either as Java or Groovy classes, with the latter being particularly attractive as the machinery is set for runtime reload. Such a feature has been available for a while, but recently it was discovered that a malicious administrator can inject Groovy code that can be executed remotely by a running Apache Syncope Core instance. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.0.14 / 4.0.2, which fix this issue by forcing the Groovy code to run in a sandbox.
Weakness: CWE-653
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-57738?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.syncope.core:syncope-core-spring. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.apache.syncope.core:syncope-core-spring Maven | All versions | 3.0.14 |
org.apache.syncope.core:syncope-core-spring Maven | All versions | 3.0.14 |
org.apache.syncope.core:syncope-core-spring Maven | From 4.0.0-M0 | 4.0.2 |
org.apache.syncope.core:syncope-core-spring Maven | From 4.0.0-M0 | 4.0.2 |
Products include Apache Syncope.
How do I fix CVE-2025-57738?
Upgrade org.apache.syncope.core:syncope-core-spring to a fixed version for your release line: 3.0.14 or 4.0.2.
Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.
Is CVE-2025-57738 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-57738 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apache Syncope
- CVE-2026-53405 Apache Syncope: Remote Code Execution via Flowable BPMN Groovy ScriptTask
- CVE-2026-53421 Apache Syncope: Remote Code Execution via Scripted Connector
- CVE-2026-57308 Apache Syncope: SQL injection vulnerability in Audit Events search
- CVE-2026-62183 Apache Syncope: User self-service privilege escalation
- CVE-2026-63071 Apache Syncope: RCE via Groovy Sandbox bypass
Sources
Also known as GHSA-825g-mm5v-ggq4.