CVE-2025-41041 in CMF
Summary
by MITRE • 09/04/2025
A vulnerability has been discovered in appRain CMF version 4.0.5, consisting of a stored authenticated XSS due to a lack of proper validation of user input, through the 'data[code]', 'data[lang][0][key]', 'data[lang][0][value]', 'data[lang][1][key]' and 'data[title]' parameters in /apprain/developer/language/default.xml.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/05/2025
This vulnerability resides within appRain CMF version 4.0.5, where a stored authenticated cross-site scripting flaw has been identified through insufficient input validation mechanisms. The vulnerability manifests in the /apprain/developer/language/default.xml endpoint, which accepts multiple parameter inputs including data[code], data[lang][0][key], data[lang][0][value], data[lang][1][key], and data[title]. These parameters fail to implement proper sanitization or validation measures, creating an attack surface where authenticated users can inject malicious scripts that persist within the application's data storage.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly encode or sanitize user-supplied data before storing it in the system. When legitimate users submit content through these parameters, the application stores the input without adequate filtering or encoding, allowing malicious payloads to be permanently retained within the database. This stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious scripts will execute whenever the affected data is rendered or processed by the application, potentially affecting other users who interact with the compromised content.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to the application's security posture and user data integrity. An authenticated attacker with access to the language management functionality can craft malicious script payloads that will execute in the context of other users' browsers when they view or interact with the affected language data. This could enable session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites, depending on the nature of the injected payload. The impact extends beyond immediate data compromise as it can serve as a persistent foothold for further exploitation within the application environment.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws due to insufficient input validation and output encoding. It also maps to ATT&CK technique T1531 which involves the use of untrusted inputs to execute malicious code within applications. The authenticated nature of this vulnerability means it requires legitimate user access but represents a privilege escalation risk once achieved, as it allows attackers to manipulate application data in ways that can affect other users. Organizations should implement immediate input validation and output encoding measures, along with proper parameter sanitization for all user-supplied data, to address this vulnerability effectively.
Mitigation strategies should include implementing comprehensive input validation that rejects or sanitizes potentially malicious content before storage, combined with proper output encoding when rendering user data. The application should employ Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution capabilities and implement proper access controls to ensure only authorized users can modify language data. Regular security testing and code reviews focusing on input handling and data sanitization processes will help identify similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing Web Application Firewall rules that can detect and block suspicious patterns in the affected parameters to provide an additional layer of protection against exploitation attempts.