VulnerabilityPublished 5 Oct 2025Updated 24 Feb 2026

CVE-2025-11289: westboy CicadasCMS · Cross-site Scripting

Affects westboy CicadasCMSSource CVE Database V5

Public exploit available · CVSS 4.8 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

4.8Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 20% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: Passive
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: Low
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Threat metrics

Exploit Maturity: POC

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker requires privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable system allowing full access to the vulnerable system’s settings and files.
User Interaction: Passive: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires limited interaction by the targeted user with the vulnerable system and the attacker’s payload. These interactions would be considered involuntary and do not require that the user actively subvert protections built into the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Exploit Maturity: POC: Based on threat intelligence sources each of the following must apply: · Proof-of-concept is publicly available · No knowledge of reported attempts to exploit this vulnerability · No knowledge of publicly available solutions used to simplify attempts to exploit the vulnerability

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 5 Oct 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: evidence found.
CVSS exploit maturity: proof of concept public
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CVSS vector, the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-11289, organizations should implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data processed by the Template Management Page, particularly in the Save function of TemplateFileServiceImpl.java. Employing a robust web application firewall (WAF) with rules targeting XSS payloads can provide an additional layer of defense. Restrict access to the template management interface to trusted administrators only, using strong authentication and network segmentation. Monitor logs for unusual activity related to template saving operations. Educate users about phishing risks and the importance of not clicking on suspicious links. Stay alert for vendor updates or patches and apply them promptly once released. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focused on web application vulnerabilities.

Description

A vulnerability was determined in westboy CicadasCMS up to 2431154dac8d0735e04f1fd2a3c3556668fc8dab. The impacted element is the function Save of the file src/main/java/com/zhiliao/common/template/TemplateFileServiceImpl.java of the component Template Management Page. This manipulation causes cross site scripting. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-11289 is the potential execution of malicious scripts within the browsers of users interacting with the vulnerable Template Management Page in CicadasCMS. This can lead to session hijacking, theft of cookies or credentials, and unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the user. Since the vulnerability requires user interaction, the risk is somewhat mitigated but still significant for targeted phishing or social engineering attacks. The integrity of the web application could be compromised if attackers inject scripts that alter page content or behavior. Confidentiality and availability impacts are minimal or nonexistent. Organizations relying on CicadasCMS for content management, especially those with multiple users or administrators accessing the template management interface, could face reputational damage, data leakage, or unauthorized changes if exploited. The lack of known active exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially given public disclosure.

Summary

CVE-2025-11289 identifies a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the westboy CicadasCMS product, specifically in the Template Management Page component. The vulnerability resides in the Save function within the source file TemplateFileServiceImpl.java. This flaw allows an attacker to inject malicious scripts remotely by manipulating input parameters processed by the Save function. The vulnerability does not require authentication but does require user interaction, such as a victim clicking a crafted link or visiting a malicious page that triggers the injected script. The CVSS 4.0 vector indicates network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:H means high privileges required, but the description states remote initiation, so this may indicate some privilege needed), user interaction required (UI:P), no impact on confidentiality (C:N), low impact on integrity (I:L), no impact on availability (A:N), and no scope change. The vulnerability could allow attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the victim's browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, defacement, or other client-side attacks. However, the impact is limited by the requirement for user interaction and the scope of the affected functionality. No public exploit code is currently known to be active in the wild, and no official patches have been released at the time of publication. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on October 5, 2025.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 24 Feb 2026, 21:46 UTC

Technical details

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