TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 17, 2025 Miggo Security has released a comprehensive benchmark study revealing critical gaps in Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection, with the discovery of React2Shell (CVE-2025-55182) serving as a stark real-world validation of these vulnerabilities.
The research, titled “Beat the Bypass: A Benchmark Study of WAF Weaknesses and AI Mitigation,” demonstrates that traditional WAF approaches are fundamentally inadequate against modern, AI-enabled threats.
The study analyzed over 360 CVEs across leading WAF vendors and uncovered a troubling reality: 52% of exploits bypass default WAF rules even under optimal conditions.
This finding challenges the conventional wisdom that WAFs alone can protect enterprises from critical vulnerabilities.
The research contextualizes a strategic imperative for modern security teams: WAFs remain a necessary infrastructure, yet they cannot function as a reliable mitigation layer for critical CVEs or emerging AI-driven threats without significant augmentation.
React2Shell exemplifies the exposure window problem. This CVSS 10.0 vulnerability exploits complex deserialization logic within the Flight protocol precisely the area where standard WAF signatures rarely detect threats.
Vulnerabilities in Web Application Firewalls
The vulnerability emerged as exploit code became available within hours, yet traditional WAF vendors required an average of 41 days to develop and release CVE-specific rule updates.
This 41-day gap represents the modern exposure window where organizational damage typically occurs.
The financial impact of WAF deficiencies is substantial. Miggo’s research estimates mid-sized enterprises face approximately $6 million in annual potential losses due to operational WAF inadequacies, encompassing exposure window risks, unnecessary remediation costs, and false positive impacts.
However, the research offers a promising solution: AI-augmented WAF protection. When rules are tailored with artificial intelligence for specific vulnerabilities and application context rather than generic attack patterns, coverage jumps dramatically to 91% or higher for previously bypassed vulnerabilities.
This represents a fundamental shift in WAF architecture from reactive, manual signature generation to proactive, exploit-aware rule creation powered by runtime intelligence.
Daniel Shechter, CEO and co-founder of Miggo Security, articulated the core challenge: “WAFs are necessary, but they cannot win the AI-enabled zero-day race alone.
The React2Shell vulnerabilities are the textbook example of why the old model fails. The only way to close this 41-day gap is shifting from slow, generic signatures to fast, exploit-aware rules generated by runtime intelligence.”
Industry veterans validate these findings. Andy Ellis, former Chief Security Officer of Akamai, emphasized the untapped potential: “Runtime augmentation provides the necessary intelligence and automation to transform the WAF into a reliable, high-confidence defense layer for all critical CVEs, not just reactive, one-off fixes.”
React2Shell Concerns Over Web Security
Julien Bellanger, former Imperva CMO and co-founder of RASP pioneer Prevoty, reinforced the imperative: “The data validates an uncomfortable truth vulnerabilities are weaponized faster than manual processes can handle.
The moment a vulnerability is in the wild, an arms race begins where AI attackers outpace traditional defenses. The imperative is making WAFs smarter and more automated.”
Miggo Security’s Application Detection and Response (ADR) solution addresses these gaps by delivering AI-powered runtime defense, enabling organizations to reduce exposure windows by up to 99% while cutting operational overhead by 30% or more.
The company has earned recognition as a Gartner Cool Vendor 2025 for AI Security and received Frost & Sullivan’s Product Innovation Award 2025.
The React2Shell discovery underscores an uncomfortable reality: traditional security infrastructure must evolve to meet contemporary threats, or organizations face mounting losses and extended vulnerability exposure windows.
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