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CVE-2025-40642VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2025-40642: WebWork PHP script · XSS or 'Cross-site Scripting'

Affects WebWork PHP scriptSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.1 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
5.1Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 43% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 8 Sep 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 2026-10-25.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
WebWork WebWork PHP scriptAffected
  • *
Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Specific mitigation steps include: 1) Implement strict input validation and output encoding on the 'q' and 'engine' parameters in the /search endpoint to neutralize any malicious scripts. Use context-aware encoding libraries designed for PHP to prevent XSS. 2) Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts in browsers accessing the WebWork application. 3) Conduct thorough code reviews and security testing focusing on all user-controllable inputs, not just the identified parameters, to uncover any additional XSS vectors. 4) Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking on untrusted links and encourage the use of security-aware browsing practices. 5) Monitor web server logs for suspicious request patterns targeting the vulnerable parameters to detect potential exploitation attempts early. 7) Plan for rapid deployment of official patches or updates once released by the vendor. 8) For organizations with high-risk profiles, consider temporary disabling or restricting access to the vulnerable search functionality until mitigations are in place.

Description

Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WebWork, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code through the 'q' and 'engine' request parameters in /search.

References

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