Bitdefender recently patched a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-2244) in its GravityZone Console, affecting versions prior to 6.41.2-1. This flaw, discovered by researcher Nicolas Verdier, earned a near-maximum CVSSv4 score of 9.5, signifying its serious risk. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands by exploiting insecure PHP deserialization within the Emails.php component. If exploited, attackers could gain elevated privileges, potentially compromising the entire GravityZone environment.
The flaw is particularly dangerous because it bypasses traditional security controls by leveraging a trusted GravityZone component. Attackers could use this vulnerability to deploy ransomware, exfiltrate data, or conduct lateral movement across networks. The issue stems from the sendMailFromRemoteSource method, which processes malicious serialized payloads to inject PHP objects.
These payloads enable attackers to write arbitrary files and execute system commands with elevated privileges.
Bitdefender released an automatic update (6.41.2-1) on April 4, 2025, to fix the vulnerability. Administrators are advised to ensure the patch is installed and to audit logs for unusual activity, particularly in email processes or file modifications. For those unable to immediately apply the update, Bitdefender recommends limiting external access to GravityZone’s management interface or temporarily segmenting networks.
The company has confirmed no active exploitation of the flaw in the wild but urges organizations to update their systems promptly.
The discovery of this vulnerability highlights persistent risks tied to legacy PHP serialization practices, which have caused high-profile breaches in the past. Experts emphasize that serialization vulnerabilities remain an easy target for attackers. As GravityZone secures endpoints for over 500,000 businesses globally, timely patching of this vulnerability is crucial to prevent large-scale cyber incidents.
