CVE-2025-40708
📋 TL;DR
A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in OpenAtlas v8.9.0 allows attackers to inject malicious scripts via the '/insert/event' endpoint's 'name' parameter. This could enable session hijacking by stealing authenticated users' cookies. Organizations using OpenAtlas v8.9.0 for cultural heritage data management are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- OpenAtlas
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete account takeover leading to unauthorized data modification, data exfiltration, or privilege escalation within the OpenAtlas system.
Likely Case
Session hijacking allowing attackers to impersonate authenticated users and perform unauthorized actions within their permission scope.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and output encoding, potentially reduced to minor UI disruption.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending POST requests to the vulnerable endpoint, but the attacker needs to trick an authenticated user into executing the malicious payload.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not specified
Vendor Advisory: https://www.incibe.es/en/incibe-cert/notices/aviso/multiple-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerabilities-openatlas-acdh-ch
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Monitor the OpenAtlas GitHub repository for security updates. 2. Apply any available patches for v8.9.0. 3. Consider upgrading to a newer version if available.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Filter
allImplement server-side input validation to sanitize the 'name' parameter in POST requests to '/insert/event'.
# Example PHP filter: $name = filter_var($_POST['name'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
Output Encoding
allApply proper HTML encoding to user-controlled data before rendering in web pages.
# Example PHP: echo htmlspecialchars($name, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with XSS protection rules.
- Restrict access to the '/insert/event' endpoint to trusted users only.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test by submitting a POST request to '/insert/event' with a script payload in the 'name' parameter and check if it executes in the browser.Check Version:
# Check OpenAtlas version in configuration files or admin interfaceVerify Fix Applied:
After applying fixes, repeat the test with script payloads to confirm they are properly sanitized or blocked.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to '/insert/event' with script-like content in parameters.
- Multiple failed login attempts following suspicious POST activity.
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests containing JavaScript or HTML tags in the 'name' parameter.
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri_path="/insert/event" AND (method="POST") AND (param_name="name" AND param_value MATCHES "<script|javascript:")