VulnerabilityPublished 29 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-39245: Hikvision HikCentral Master Lite · CSV Injection

Affects Hikvision HikCentral Master LiteSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.7 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.7Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 29% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, 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: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
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), 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
Hikvision HikCentral Master Lite	Affected =2.3.2	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations using affected versions of HikCentral Master Lite should: 1) Immediately review and restrict the handling of CSV files within the software environment, avoiding opening CSV exports from untrusted or unknown sources. 2) Implement strict input validation and sanitization procedures for any CSV data imported into the system, if possible, to detect and neutralize formula injection attempts. 3) Educate and train staff, especially system administrators and operators, about the risks of CSV Injection and the importance of cautious handling of CSV files received via email or other channels. 4) Monitor for any unusual system behavior or availability issues that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Engage with Hikvision support or security advisories to obtain patches or updates as soon as they become available, and plan for timely deployment. 6) Consider deploying application whitelisting or sandboxing techniques for spreadsheet applications used to open CSV files to limit potential damage from malicious formulas. 7) Employ email filtering and attachment scanning to reduce the likelihood of malicious CSV files reaching end users. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on operational controls, user awareness, and proactive monitoring tailored to the nature of CSV Injection in this specific product context.

Description

There is a CSV Injection Vulnerability in some HikCentral Master Lite versions. This could allow an attacker to inject executable commands via malicious CSV data.

Impact

For European organizations, especially those in critical infrastructure, public safety, transportation, and private sectors relying on Hikvision's HikCentral Master Lite for video surveillance management, this vulnerability poses a risk of operational disruption. An attacker could deliver malicious CSV files via phishing or other social engineering methods to system operators, causing execution of unwanted commands when the CSV is opened. This could lead to denial of service conditions, manipulation of system logs or reports, or triggering of unintended actions within the management environment. Although confidentiality and integrity impacts are not directly indicated, the disruption of availability in security monitoring systems can degrade situational awareness and response capabilities. This is particularly concerning for organizations with high reliance on continuous surveillance, such as airports, public transit authorities, and law enforcement agencies. Additionally, the requirement for user interaction means that personnel training and awareness are critical factors in risk mitigation. The medium severity score reflects a moderate but tangible risk that should be addressed promptly to maintain operational security.

CWE-1236Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product saves user-provided information into a Comma-Separated Value (CSV) file, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could be interpreted as a command when the file is opened by a spreadsheet product.
Implementation
When generating CSV output, ensure that formula-sensitive metacharacters are effectively escaped or removed from all data before storage in the resultant CSV. Risky characters include '=' (equal), '+' (plus), '-' (minus), and '@' (at).
Implementation
If a field starts with a formula character, prepend it with a ' (single apostrophe), which prevents Excel from executing the formula.
Architecture and Design
Certain implementations of spreadsheet software might disallow formulas from executing if the file is untrusted, or if the file is not authored by the current user.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

hikvision.com/en/support/cybersecurity/security-advisory/security-vulnerabilities-in-some-hikcentral-products/ (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 29 Aug 2025, 02:33 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-1236

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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