CVE-2025-2336 identifies a vulnerability in the AngularJS framework, specifically in the ngSanitize module responsible for sanitizing HTML content. The issue arises from incomplete filtering of special elements, notably the 'href' and 'xlink:href' attributes within SVG <image> elements. Attackers can exploit this by injecting malicious or oversized image URLs that bypass AngularJS's sanitization checks, which are intended to restrict image sources to safe domains or formats. This bypass can lead to content spoofing, where attackers manipulate the visual content of a web application to mislead users, potentially facilitating phishing or social engineering attacks. Additionally, by referencing large or slow-loading images, attackers can degrade application performance or cause denial of service conditions. The vulnerability affects AngularJS versions 1.3.1 and above. Since AngularJS is officially end-of-life, no patches or updates will be provided by Google, leaving legacy applications exposed. The CVSS 3.1 score of 4.8 reflects a medium severity, with network attack vector, high attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, and impacts limited to integrity and availability but not confidentiality. No known exploits have been reported in the wild as of the publication date. Organizations relying on AngularJS for web applications should be aware that this vulnerability can be leveraged remotely without authentication, increasing its risk profile. The lack of vendor support necessitates alternative mitigation strategies such as code refactoring or migration to supported frameworks.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses risks primarily in sectors with legacy web applications built on AngularJS, including government portals, financial services, healthcare, and critical infrastructure management systems. Content spoofing can undermine user trust, facilitate phishing attacks, and lead to misinformation or fraud. Performance degradation caused by maliciously large or slow-loading images can disrupt service availability, impacting business continuity and user experience. The inability to patch AngularJS due to its end-of-life status increases exposure duration and complicates remediation efforts. Organizations with public-facing web applications are particularly vulnerable to reputation damage and potential regulatory scrutiny under GDPR if user data or service integrity is compromised. The medium severity indicates that while the threat is not critical, it is significant enough to warrant prompt attention, especially given the ease of remote exploitation without authentication or user interaction. The impact on confidentiality is minimal, but integrity and availability risks can affect operational reliability and trustworthiness of affected applications.

Since AngularJS is end-of-life and no official patches are available, European organizations should prioritize migrating legacy AngularJS applications to modern, supported frameworks such as Angular (2+), React, or Vue.js. In the interim, developers should implement strict input validation and sanitization on the server side to complement client-side controls, ensuring that 'href' and 'xlink:href' attributes in SVG elements are restricted to trusted sources. Employing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can help limit the domains from which images and other resources can be loaded, mitigating the risk of malicious content injection. Regular security audits and code reviews should focus on sanitization logic and SVG usage. Monitoring application performance metrics can help detect abnormal loading times indicative of exploitation attempts. Additionally, educating development teams about the risks of using deprecated frameworks and encouraging adoption of secure coding practices will reduce future vulnerabilities. Finally, organizations should maintain an incident response plan to address potential content spoofing or denial of service incidents swiftly.