CVE-2025-24599 in Newsletters Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/04/2025
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Tribulant Newsletters allows Reflected XSS. This issue affects Newsletters: from n/a through 4.9.9.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/05/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-24599 represents a critical cross-site scripting weakness within the Tribulant Newsletters plugin, specifically targeting versions ranging from n/a through 4.9.9.6. This flaw resides in the improper neutralization of input during web page generation, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject and execute arbitrary script code within the context of a victim's browser. The vulnerability manifests as a reflected XSS attack, where malicious payloads are embedded within URL parameters or other input fields and subsequently reflected back to users without proper sanitization or encoding mechanisms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding practices within the plugin's codebase. When users interact with the newsletter system through web interfaces or API endpoints, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web pages. This omission allows attackers to craft malicious URLs containing script payloads that, when executed by unsuspecting users, can hijack sessions, steal cookies, or redirect users to malicious domains. The reflected nature of this attack means that the malicious script code is not stored on the server but is instead reflected off the web server in response to a user's request, making it particularly challenging to detect through traditional security measures.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability exposes users of the Tribulant Newsletters plugin to significant security risks including unauthorized access to sensitive data, session hijacking, and potential complete compromise of affected systems. Attackers can exploit this weakness to execute malicious scripts that may steal administrative credentials, modify newsletter content, or redirect users to phishing sites. The vulnerability affects a broad range of versions, indicating that organizations running any version within the specified range are potentially at risk, making the impact widespread across various deployment environments. The reflected nature of the vulnerability also means that attacks can be delivered through social engineering tactics, such as sending malicious links via email or instant messaging platforms.
Security professionals should immediately implement mitigations including input validation and output encoding measures to prevent the execution of malicious scripts within the application. The recommended approach involves implementing proper HTML escaping for all user-supplied input before rendering it in web pages, utilizing Content Security Policy headers to restrict script execution, and implementing proper input sanitization routines. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious requests containing known XSS patterns. According to CWE standards, this vulnerability maps to CWE-79 which specifically addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation, while the ATT&CK framework categorizes this under T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566 for phishing techniques, as attackers may leverage this vulnerability to deliver malicious payloads through deceptive means. Regular security updates and patches should be deployed immediately upon availability, and comprehensive security testing should be performed to ensure the vulnerability has been fully remediated across all affected systems.