VulnerabilityPublished 27 Oct 2025

CVE-2025-12330: Willow CMS · Cross-site Scripting

Affects Willow CMSSource 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 19% 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 27 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubmatthewdeaves/willow`pkg:github/matthewdeaves/willow`Other threats	Affected 1.0 – 1.4.0 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

Immediately restrict access to the /admin/articles/add interface to trusted IP addresses or VPN users to reduce exposure.
Implement strict input validation and output encoding on the 'title' and 'body' parameters to neutralize malicious scripts.
Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts to mitigate risks from compromised credentials.
Monitor administrative logs for unusual activity or repeated failed login attempts indicating brute force or phishing attempts.
Educate administrators about phishing risks and the dangers of clicking on suspicious links that could trigger XSS payloads.
If possible, apply any vendor patches or updates as soon as they become available.
Use Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts in the CMS environment.
Regularly audit and update CMS plugins or extensions that might interact with the vulnerable component to avoid chained exploits.
Consider deploying web application firewalls (WAF) with rules to detect and block XSS attack patterns targeting the affected endpoints.

Description

A security flaw has been discovered in Willow CMS up to 1.4.0. This issue affects some unknown processing of the file /admin/articles/add of the component Add Post Page. The manipulation of the argument title/body results in cross site scripting. The attack may be launched remotely. The exploit has been released to the public and may be exploited.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the confidentiality and integrity of administrative sessions within Willow CMS deployments. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to hijack administrator sessions, manipulate website content, or inject malicious scripts that affect site visitors or internal users. This can lead to reputational damage, data leakage, and potential compliance violations under GDPR if personal data is exposed or manipulated. Since the vulnerability requires authenticated access, the threat is heightened in environments with weak credential management or where phishing attacks are prevalent. Organizations relying on Willow CMS for critical web presence or internal portals may face operational disruptions if attackers leverage this vulnerability for further lateral movement or privilege abuse. The medium severity rating suggests moderate risk, but the public availability of exploit details increases urgency. European entities in sectors such as media, education, and small business hosting websites on Willow CMS are particularly vulnerable. The impact is compounded in countries with higher adoption rates of this CMS or where attackers focus on CMS platforms for initial access.

Summary

CVE-2025-12330 is a cross-site scripting vulnerability identified in Willow CMS versions 1.0 through 1.4.0, specifically within the administrative interface at the /admin/articles/add endpoint. The vulnerability arises from improper handling and sanitization of user-supplied input in the 'title' and 'body' parameters when adding new posts. An attacker with authenticated access to the CMS can craft malicious input containing executable JavaScript code, which is then reflected and executed in the context of an administrator's browser session. This XSS flaw enables attackers to perform actions such as session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized administrative commands by exploiting the trust relationship between the administrator and the CMS. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable but requires the attacker to have valid credentials (high privileges) and some user interaction (e.g., tricking an admin to click a crafted link). The CVSS 4.0 score of 4.8 reflects a medium severity, considering the attack vector is network-based with low attack complexity but requiring authentication and user interaction. No known public exploits are currently active in the wild, but the public disclosure increases the risk of exploitation attempts. The vulnerability does not impact system availability or require privilege escalation beyond authenticated access. Willow CMS is a niche content management system, and the affected versions are widely used in some small to medium enterprises for website content management. The lack of official patches at the time of disclosure necessitates immediate mitigation steps to reduce risk.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Nov 2025, 03:15 UTC

Technical details

References

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