External risk intelligence

HCL DevOps Velocity Rate Limiting Bypass

CVE advisorySeverity: CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8)

CVE-2025-31991

HCL DevOps Velocity is a centralized management and orchestration platform. Such products are commonly deployed as web-based applications accessible to teams across networks, often serving as internet-facing or edge-reachable services to facilitate remote access for development and operations personnel.

Hcltech Devops Velocity

before 5.1.7

Halo Surface Signal: 4 out of 5 — likely to be public-facing.

External exposure likelihood

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

This vulnerability affects HCL DevOps Velocity, a platform for managing development and operations processes. It allows unauthorized users to repeatedly attempt logins without being blocked, which could potentially lead to unauthorized access to the system. The main concern is confirming if our organization uses this specific software and if it is exposed in a way that could be exploited.

Brute-force login attempts can overwhelm security.
It's a critical vulnerability affecting a management platform.
Confirm usage and exposure of this software.

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

An unauthenticated attacker can repeatedly attempt to log in to HCL DevOps Velocity without being blocked. This allows them to bypass the intended limit on failed login attempts, which could potentially lead to unauthorized access to the system.

Exposed to the network.
Repeatedly attempt login.
Gain unauthorized access.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

HCL DevOps Velocity's rate limiting for login attempts is not enforced, potentially exposing the system to brute-force attacks. This could allow unauthorized access to sensitive information or allow an attacker to manipulate service behavior when supported by the advisory.

User account credentials and system access.
Repeated login attempts overwhelm defenses.
Unauthorized access and system compromise.

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

Teams responsible for HCL DevOps Velocity, likely application or platform owners, must prioritize this issue. The initial step involves identifying all deployments of the affected software, confirming its network reachability, and assessing its business criticality. Once ownership is confirmed and exposure understood, a remediation plan should be developed based on risk, potentially involving vendor coordination or temporary risk reduction measures if immediate patching is not feasible.

Application or platform owners should take ownership.
Verify reachability and business criticality first.
Plan remediation based on risk and vendor coordination.

Supplementary metadata

CVSS vector

Validate whether this threat affects your internet-facing exposure.

Halo Threat Intelligence helps prioritize remediation with Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context. Start exposure validation with a free external attack surface trial.

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Frequently asked questions

What is HCL DevOps Velocity?

HCL DevOps Velocity is a centralized management and orchestration platform designed to streamline development and operations processes. It serves as a hub for teams to coordinate their delivery pipelines, often acting as a web-based application that integrates various tools across the software development lifecycle.

What does CWE-307 mean for CVE-2025-31991?

CWE-307 refers to Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts. In the context of CVE-2025-31991, this means the software fails to stop someone from trying to guess passwords repeatedly. Because the rate limiting is broken, the system does not lock out accounts or throttle traffic after multiple failed login entries, leaving it vulnerable to brute-force attacks.

How does an attacker trigger this vulnerability?

An attacker triggers this flaw by sending a continuous stream of login requests to the authentication endpoint of the application. The system fails to enforce any cooldown period or limit on these requests. This behavior does not occur when the system is correctly configured to block requests after a defined number of failed attempts, which is the standard safety measure missing here.

Is my HCL DevOps Velocity instance at risk?

According to Halo Surface Signal, this software is often deployed as a web-based service accessible across networks, frequently residing on the internet or at the network edge to allow remote access. If your instance is reachable from outside your internal network, it is more accessible to unauthorized users, increasing the likelihood that this vulnerability could be targeted.

How should I respond to this vulnerability?

Begin by auditing your environment to locate every instance of HCL DevOps Velocity. Once identified, evaluate how each deployment is connected to your network and determine its business importance. The primary resolution is to update your software to version 5.1.7 or later, which contains the corrected rate limiting logic.

References

support.hcl-software.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0130138

Written by Nicholas Merritt

Nicholas Merritt is VP of Security Solutions at Halo Security. With more than 25 years across application security, vulnerability prioritization, and offensive security, he helps teams translate threat data into practical exposure validation and remediation focus. He authors Halo Threat Intelligence CVE advisories using Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context to prioritize internet-facing risk.