CVE-2025-58098·Apache vulnerability

How likely is exploitation

FIRST's Exploit Prediction Scoring System puts the probability of this CVE being exploited in the next 30 days at <0.1% — higher than 7% of all published CVEs. EPSS is an independent forecast of exploitation, not a severity rating: it says nothing about how much damage a successful attack does, which is what a CVSS score measures.

Read the two together. CVE-2025-58098 scores 8.3 on CVSS, so a successful attack would be serious — but at <0.1%, almost nobody is currently attempting it. That is a different situation from a flaw under mass exploitation, and it is usually the difference between patching on your next maintenance window and patching tonight.

Affected versions

How to fix this CVE

Upgrade Apache HTTP Server to version 2.4.66 or later to patch the Server Side Includes (SSI) command injection vulnerability. This fix prevents improper shell escaping of query strings when using mod_cgid with #exec directives, which could allow authenticated users to execute arbitrary shell commands on the server. If you cannot upgrade immediately, disable Server Side Includes or switch from mod_cgid to mod_cgi as a temporary mitigation.

sudo dnf update -y httpd httpd-core httpd-devel

What an exploitation attempt looks like

Sample log line indicative of exploitation attempts:

POST|GET.*\?.*exec\s+cmd=|SSI.*#exec.*cmd=.*\$\(.*\)|query string containing shell metacharacters passed to #exec directive in .shtml file processing

WAF mitigation (if patching is not yet possible)

Add this rule to your WAF to block exploitation attempts while you schedule the patch.

Block HTTP requests to .shtml files containing query strings with shell metacharacters (;, |, &, $, `, \n, \r) or the pattern 'exec cmd=' in the query string. Implement strict input validation on CGI parameters and restrict execution of SSI directives with external command invocation.

How to check if you are affected

1. Check your Apache version with: apache2ctl -v (or httpd -v on RHEL/CentOS) and confirm if it is 2.4.66 or later
2. Verify if Server Side Includes are enabled by checking httpd.conf for 'AddType text/html .shtml' and 'AddOutputFilter INCLUDES .shtml' directives
3. Confirm mod_cgid is loaded instead of mod_cgi by running: apache2ctl -M | grep cgid (should show cgid_module if vulnerable configuration is present)
4. Review Apache error and access logs for patterns like '?exec cmd=' in query strings combined with .shtml requests, indicating potential exploitation attempts

FAQ

Related Apache CVEs

References

• https://httpd.apache.org/security/vulnerabilities_24.html
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/04/5