CVE-2025-14731
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in CTCMS Content Management System allows remote attackers to execute template injection attacks through improper input sanitization in the template engine. Attackers can potentially execute arbitrary code or manipulate template rendering. All users running CTCMS versions up to 2.1.2 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- CTCMS Content Management System
📦 What is this software?
Ctcms by Ctcms Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Template injection allowing content manipulation, privilege escalation, or limited code execution within the application context.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and output encoding in place, potentially only causing template rendering errors.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit details are publicly available and remote exploitation is possible without authentication
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Unknown
Vendor Advisory: None available
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Consider upgrading to a version beyond 2.1.2 if available, or implement workarounds.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Enhancement
allAdd strict input validation and output encoding for template variables
Modify CT_Parser.php to implement htmlspecialchars() or similar encoding for all template variables
Access Restriction
allRestrict access to template management functionality
Add authentication requirements to template editing endpoints
Implement IP whitelisting for admin functions
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block template injection patterns
- Disable or restrict the Frontend/Template Management Module if not essential
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check CTCMS version in admin panel or by examining version files. If version is 2.1.2 or lower, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check /ctcms/version.txt or admin panel version displayVerify Fix Applied:
Test template injection attempts after implementing workarounds. Attempts should be blocked or properly sanitized.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual template file modifications
- Suspicious POST requests to template endpoints
- Error logs showing template parsing failures
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing template injection payloads to /ctcms/apps/libraries/CT_Parser.php
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (uri="/ctcms/apps/libraries/CT_Parser.php" OR uri="*template*") AND (payload="{{*" OR payload="{%*" OR payload="${*")🔗 References
- https://note-hxlab.wetolink.com/share/Ros8ZIeCLQrN
- https://note-hxlab.wetolink.com/share/U6cnRoRfn09r
- https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.336488
- https://vuldb.com/?id.336488
- https://vuldb.com/?submit.707106
- https://vuldb.com/?submit.707107
- https://note-hxlab.wetolink.com/share/Ros8ZIeCLQrN
- https://note-hxlab.wetolink.com/share/U6cnRoRfn09r
