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Hard-coded AES Key in Apache Syncope Password Storage
CVE-2025-65998 is a cryptographic vulnerability in Apache Syncope affecting deployments configured to store user password values in the internal database using AES encryption. In affected versions, this password-storage mode uses a default AES key that is hard-coded in the application source code. Because the key is fixed and recoverable from the software, an attacker who obtains access to the internal database contents can decrypt the stored password values and reconstruct the original cleartext passwords. The issue does not affect deployments that do not use this optional AES-based internal password storage mode, and available information indicates that encrypted plain attributes are not affected by this flaw.
What it means and what to do now: patch path, interim mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Successful exploitation exposes stored user passwords in plaintext to an attacker with access to the internal database. Recovery of those credentials can enable unauthorized access to Syncope-managed accounts and any other systems where affected users reused the same passwords. Depending on account scope and password reuse, this can facilitate privilege escalation, impersonation, lateral movement, and broader compromise of identity-managed environments.
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Until patching is completed, reduce exposure by restricting access to the internal database to the minimum necessary, hardening database access controls, and reviewing whether the optional AES-based internal password storage mode is enabled. If operationally feasible, avoid relying on the vulnerable AES password storage configuration in affected releases. Monitoring and auditing access to the Syncope database can also reduce the likelihood of undetected credential exposure.
Patch, then assume compromise.
Upgrade Apache Syncope to a fixed release. Available information identifies Apache Syncope 3.0.15 and 4.0.3 as containing the fix for this issue. Organizations running affected versions should update to the appropriate patched release and verify that the vulnerable hard-coded-key password storage behavior is no longer in use. Because stored passwords may have been recoverable prior to remediation, administrators should also assess whether credential rotation is warranted for affected accounts.
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
12 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.