Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A highly privileged local attacker could make a vulnerable WatchGuard Firebox continue operating after its boot-time integrity check fails. The separate on-demand check in the web interface still reports the failure. This weakens a security safeguard but does not, by itself, provide remote access or expose data.
Executive priority
Schedule prompt remediation for affected appliances, prioritizing devices with broad network trust or weak administrative controls. Escalate immediately if the on-demand integrity check fails or unauthorized privileged access is suspected. Current evidence does not support treating this as an unauthenticated remote emergency.
Technical view
CVE-2025-13940 is a CWE-440 expected-behavior violation in Fireware OS 2025.1 and 12.8.1. It bypasses the boot-time response to an integrity-check failure, preventing the expected shutdown. CVSS 4.0 scores it 6.7, requiring local access and high privileges, with high integrity impact but no stated confidentiality or availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to Fireboxes running Fireware OS 2025.1 or 12.8.1 where an attacker already has local, highly privileged access. The supplied record marks other versions unaffected by default. Internet accessibility alone does not satisfy the stated attack requirements.
Exploitation context
The supplied sources provide no evidence of active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV in the bundle. Exploitation requires local access and high privileges, substantially reducing opportunistic risk. No exploit method, proof of concept, or observed campaign is documented in the provided evidence.
Researcher notes
The record establishes the security-control bypass and its prerequisites but does not describe the underlying flaw or bypass mechanics. Independent exploitability cannot be assessed further from this bundle. Validation should focus on version identification, the on-demand integrity result, and evidence of privileged local access.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Fireboxes and identify devices running Fireware OS 2025.1 or 12.8.1.
- Check WatchGuard's advisory for current fixed-release or upgrade guidance; the supplied bundle names no fix.
- Restrict local and privileged administrative access to trusted personnel until vendor-directed remediation is complete.
- Isolate and investigate any device reporting a failed on-demand integrity check.
Validation and detection
- Confirm each Firebox model and installed Fireware OS version through trusted management records.
- Run the on-demand system integrity check in the Fireware Web UI.
- Treat any failed on-demand check as significant even if the appliance remained operational after boot.
- Review available records for unexpected local or highly privileged access to affected devices.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-440: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-13940 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.7 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——WatchGuardVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
6.7MediumVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://psirt.watchguard.com/CVE-2025-13940CVE reference, WatchGuard · vendor-advisory
- https://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-psirt/advisory/wgsa-2025-00026CVE reference, WatchGuard · vendor-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Expected Behavior Violation
Expected Behavior Violation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.