CVE-2025-52367
📋 TL;DR
A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in PivotX CMS v3.0.0 RC 3 allows remote attackers to inject malicious scripts via the subtitle field. This can lead to arbitrary code execution through privilege escalation, affecting all users of this specific version.
💻 Affected Systems
- PivotX CMS
📦 What is this software?
Pivotx by Pivotx
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers achieve remote code execution, compromise the server, steal sensitive data, and potentially pivot to other systems.
Likely Case
Attackers steal session cookies, perform account takeover, deface websites, or redirect users to malicious sites.
If Mitigated
Script execution is blocked by CSP headers or input validation, limiting impact to minor UI disruption.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires stored XSS followed by privilege escalation to achieve RCE, as described in references.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: v3.0.0 stable or later
Vendor Advisory: http://pivotx.com
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your PivotX installation and database. 2. Download the latest stable version from pivotx.com. 3. Replace all files except configuration and upload directories. 4. Verify functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Sanitization
allImplement server-side validation to strip HTML/JavaScript from subtitle field inputs.
Content Security Policy
allDeploy CSP headers to block inline script execution and restrict script sources.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable or restrict access to subtitle field editing functionality.
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if PivotX version is exactly v3.0.0 RC 3 via admin panel or version file.Check Version:
Check admin panel or inspect includes/version.php file.Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is updated to v3.0.0 stable or later and test subtitle field with XSS payloads.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual subtitle field entries containing script tags or JavaScript code in database/logs.
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with malicious payloads in subtitle parameters.
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (subtitle CONTAINS "<script>" OR subtitle CONTAINS "javascript:")