CVE-2025-48885 in application-urlshortener
Summary
by MITRE • 05/30/2025
application-urlshortener create shortened URLs for XWiki pages. Versions prior to 1.2.4 are vulnerable to users with view access being able to create arbitrary pages. Any user (even guests) can create these docs, even if they don't exist already. This can enable guest users to denature the structure of wiki pages, by creating 1000's of pages with random name, that then become very difficult to handle by admins. Version 1.2.4 fixes the issue. No known workarounds are available.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/02/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-48885 affects the application-urlshortener component within XWiki platforms, specifically targeting versions prior to 1.2.4. This security flaw represents a critical access control bypass that allows unauthorized users to manipulate the wiki's content structure through the URL shortening functionality. The vulnerability stems from inadequate permission validation mechanisms that fail to properly authenticate user intentions when creating shortened URLs, effectively granting guest users and authenticated viewers the ability to execute privileged operations within the system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the insufficient input validation and access control checks within the URL shortening module. When users submit requests to create shortened URLs, the system does not properly verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary permissions to create new pages within the wiki structure. This weakness manifests as a failure in the authorization framework, where the system accepts page creation requests regardless of the user's actual privileges or the existence of the target page. The flaw operates at the application layer and can be exploited through the web interface or API endpoints that handle URL shortening requests, making it particularly dangerous as it requires minimal privileges to exploit.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, creating significant administrative challenges and potential service disruption. Guest users can systematically flood the wiki with thousands of randomly named pages, effectively creating a denial-of-service condition that degrades system performance and complicates content management. This malicious activity can lead to database bloat, increased storage requirements, and substantial administrative overhead as system administrators must manually identify and remove the created pages. The vulnerability enables a form of resource exhaustion attack that can render the wiki platform difficult to manage and potentially unusable, particularly in environments where the wiki serves as a critical collaboration platform.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078.004, involving valid accounts and legitimate credentials for unauthorized access. The flaw represents a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows lower-privileged users to perform actions typically restricted to higher-privileged accounts, creating a pathway for malicious actors to disrupt service availability and compromise system integrity. The lack of known workarounds means that organizations must immediately upgrade to version 1.2.4 or later to mitigate the risk, as no alternative configuration changes or patches can address the core authorization flaw. System administrators should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual page creation patterns and establish automated cleanup procedures to address potential exploitation attempts, while also ensuring that all users have appropriate access controls and that the platform operates with the latest security updates.