CVE-2025-29772 in OpenEMR
Summary
by MITRE • 03/31/2025
OpenEMR is a free and open source electronic health records and medical practice management application. The POST parameter hidden_subcategory is output to the page without being properly processed. This leads to a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vul;nerability in CAMOS new.php. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.0.3.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-29772 affects OpenEMR, a widely used open source electronic health records and medical practice management system. This application serves healthcare providers globally and handles sensitive patient data, making security flaws particularly concerning. The vulnerability exists within the CAMOS new.php component of the software, where user input is not properly sanitized before being rendered back to the browser. The specific issue occurs when the POST parameter named hidden_subcategory is processed and reflected back to the user interface without adequate output encoding or validation measures.
This reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability stems from improper input validation and output sanitization practices within the application's codebase. The flaw allows an attacker to inject malicious scripts into the web application through crafted POST requests containing the hidden_subcategory parameter. When the application processes this parameter and outputs it directly to the page without proper HTML entity encoding or script filtering, it creates an opportunity for attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of a victim's browser session. The vulnerability is classified as a reflected XSS issue because the malicious payload is reflected back from the server to the client browser without being stored on the server.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant within healthcare environments where OpenEMR systems are deployed. Attackers could exploit this weakness to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, or redirect victims to malicious websites. In healthcare contexts, this could lead to data breaches, unauthorized access to patient records, or disruption of critical medical services. The vulnerability particularly affects users who interact with the CAMOS functionality within OpenEMR, potentially compromising the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive health information. Given that healthcare organizations often handle highly sensitive data, the exploitation of such vulnerabilities could result in compliance violations under regulations like HIPAA and GDPR.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which describes Cross-site Scripting flaws in software applications, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments or links. The fix implemented in version 7.0.3 demonstrates proper input validation and output encoding practices that prevent malicious payloads from being executed. Organizations using affected versions should immediately upgrade to the patched release to mitigate this risk. Additional mitigations include implementing proper content security policies, deploying web application firewalls, and conducting regular security assessments of healthcare applications. Security teams should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring for suspicious POST requests containing unusual parameter values to detect potential exploitation attempts.
The presence of this vulnerability highlights the critical importance of secure coding practices in healthcare software development. Given that medical applications often process sensitive personal health information, developers must implement robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout their applications. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the need for comprehensive security testing, including dynamic application security testing and manual code reviews, particularly in applications handling regulated data. Healthcare organizations should maintain updated inventory of all deployed applications and regularly verify that security patches are applied across their entire IT infrastructure to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.