CVE-2025-62524
📋 TL;DR
PILOS (Platform for Interactive Live-Online Seminars) before version 4.8.0 exposes the PHP version via the X-Powered-By HTTP header, allowing attackers to fingerprint the server and identify potential vulnerabilities. This information disclosure vulnerability affects all PILOS deployments using versions before 4.8.0 that haven't disabled the X-Powered-By header.
💻 Affected Systems
- PILOS (Platform for Interactive Live-Online Seminars)
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers use the exposed PHP version information to identify and exploit known vulnerabilities in that specific PHP version, potentially leading to remote code execution or other serious compromises.
Likely Case
Attackers gather reconnaissance data about the server environment, enabling more targeted attacks against known PHP vulnerabilities or PILOS-specific exploits.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact - attackers cannot easily determine the PHP version, making targeted attacks more difficult and requiring additional reconnaissance steps.
🎯 Exploit Status
Information disclosure only - no direct exploitation, but enables reconnaissance for future attacks.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.8.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/THM-Health/PILOS/security/advisories/GHSA-q93h-5j6h-j22x
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update PILOS to version 4.8.0 or later. 2. Verify the X-Powered-By header is no longer exposed in HTTP responses.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable X-Powered-By Header in PHP
allConfigure PHP to not expose the X-Powered-By header in HTTP responses
In php.ini: expose_php = Off
In .htaccess: Header unset X-Powered-By
Remove PILOS Version from Footer
allManually remove or obfuscate the PILOS version displayed in the web interface footer
Edit footer templates to remove version information
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to strip X-Powered-By headers from responses
- Use reverse proxy to remove X-Powered-By headers before responses reach clients
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Use curl or browser developer tools to check HTTP response headers for X-Powered-By containing PHP version: curl -I https://your-pilos-server.comCheck Version:
Check PILOS version in web interface footer or via admin panelVerify Fix Applied:
Verify X-Powered-By header is absent from HTTP responses and PILOS version is not displayed in footer📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple requests to server with user-agents indicating vulnerability scanners
- Unusual header analysis requests
Network Indicators:
- External scanners probing for X-Powered-By headers
- Traffic patterns suggesting reconnaissance activity
SIEM Query:
http.headers:X-Powered-By AND (src_ip NOT IN internal_networks)