CVE-2025-41052 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[Addon][layouts]' and 'data[Addon][layouts_except]' parameters in /apprain/developer/addons/update/canvasjs.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/05/2025
This vulnerability exists within appRain CMF version 4.0.5 and represents a stored cross-site scripting flaw that can be exploited by authenticated attackers. The vulnerability specifically manifests through insufficient input validation mechanisms within the application's developer module, particularly affecting the canvasjs endpoint at /apprain/developer/addons/update/canvasjs. Attackers can leverage this weakness by injecting malicious scripts through the 'data[Addon][layouts]' and 'data[Addon][layouts_except]' parameters, which are processed without adequate sanitization or validation checks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from CWE-79 which defines cross-site scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is directly incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding. In this case, the application fails to implement proper input sanitization for user-supplied data that flows into the web page context. The authenticated nature of this vulnerability means that an attacker must first obtain valid credentials to exploit the flaw, but once authenticated, they can store malicious payloads that will execute in the context of other users who access the affected pages.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive user information, manipulate data within the application, or redirect users to malicious websites. Since the vulnerability is stored, the malicious scripts persist in the application's database and execute every time the affected page is accessed, potentially affecting multiple users over extended periods. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that this occurs within a content management framework's developer tools, which typically have elevated privileges and access to sensitive system components.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application stack. The fix must ensure that all user-supplied data passing through the 'data[Addon][layouts]' and 'data[Addon][layouts_except]' parameters undergoes strict sanitization before being stored in the database. This includes implementing proper HTML entity encoding for any data that will be rendered in web contexts and employing Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution. Additionally, the application should implement proper authorization checks and input length restrictions to prevent overly complex payloads from being processed. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability aligns with techniques such as T1531 for credential access and T1059 for command and scripting interpreter, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators have elevated privileges. Organizations should also implement regular security scanning of their application components to identify similar validation weaknesses and ensure that all user inputs are properly validated before being processed by the system.