# CVE-2025-68435: Zerobyte has Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness

> Attackers can access API endpoints without valid credentials due to missing authentication middleware, potentially exposing backup data.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 18 Dec 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x539-c98q-38gv

## What is CVE-2025-68435?

CVE-2025-68435 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in nicotsx zerobyte, published on 17 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Zerobyte is a backup automation tool Zerobyte versions prior to 0.18.5 and 0.19.0 contain an authentication bypass vulnerability where authentication middleware is not properly applied to API endpoints. This results in certain API endpoints being accessible without valid session credentials. This is dangerous for those who have exposed Zerobyte to be used outside of their internal network. A fix has been applied in both version 0.19.0 and 0.18.5. If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict network access to the Zerobyte instance to trusted networks only using firewall rules or network segmentation. This is only a temporary mitigation; upgrading is strongly recommended.

Weakness: CWE-305 (Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68435?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nicotsx Zerobyte.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-68435?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-68435 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-68435 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68435 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68435 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68435 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in nicotsx zerobyte, published on 17 Dec 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-2025-68435 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: nicotsx zerobyte. 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-2025-68435/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68435/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68435
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68435
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68435

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68435/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.