CVE-2025-28961 is a critical security vulnerability classified under CWE-502, which pertains to the deserialization of untrusted data. This vulnerability affects the Md Yeasin Ul Haider URL Shortener product, specifically versions up to 3.0.7. Deserialization vulnerabilities occur when an application deserializes data from untrusted sources without sufficient validation or sanitization, allowing attackers to manipulate serialized objects to inject malicious payloads. In this case, the vulnerability enables Object Injection, which can lead to remote code execution, privilege escalation, or other severe impacts on the affected system. The CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8 indicates a critical severity level, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), and no user interaction needed (UI:N). The scope is unchanged (S:U), but the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H). This means an attacker can remotely exploit this vulnerability without authentication or user interaction, potentially gaining full control over the URL Shortener application and the underlying system. The vulnerability was reserved in March 2025 and published in July 2025. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet, indicating that organizations using this URL Shortener should urgently assess their exposure and prepare mitigation strategies.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for those relying on the Md Yeasin Ul Haider URL Shortener for internal or external link management. Successful exploitation could lead to full compromise of the URL Shortener service, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary code, steal sensitive data, manipulate shortened URLs to redirect users to malicious sites, or disrupt service availability. This could damage organizational reputation, lead to data breaches involving personal or corporate information, and cause operational downtime. Given the critical nature of the vulnerability and the lack of required authentication or user interaction, attackers could automate attacks at scale. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure, which often use URL shorteners for communication or marketing, are particularly at risk. Additionally, compromised URL shorteners can be leveraged as a vector for phishing campaigns targeting European users, amplifying the threat landscape.

1. Immediate mitigation should include disabling or restricting access to the Md Yeasin Ul Haider URL Shortener service until a patch is available. 2. Implement network-level controls such as web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious serialized object payloads targeting the URL Shortener endpoints. 3. Conduct thorough input validation and sanitization on any data deserialized by the application, employing allowlists for expected object types and rejecting unexpected or malformed data. 4. Monitor logs for unusual activity patterns indicative of exploitation attempts, such as unexpected serialized data or anomalous requests. 5. Where possible, isolate the URL Shortener service in a segmented network environment with minimal privileges to limit potential lateral movement. 6. Engage with the vendor or community to obtain patches or updates addressing this vulnerability as soon as they become available. 7. Educate development and security teams about the risks of insecure deserialization and promote secure coding practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities in future software versions.