CVE-2025-40709: ACDH-CH OpenAtlas · XSS or 'Cross-site Scripting'
Affects ACDH-CH OpenAtlasSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.1 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:NExploitation 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.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| ACDH-CH OpenAtlas | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
Organizations should implement strict input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data, especially on the "/insert/person/<ID>" endpoint parameters "name" and "alias-0". Until an official patch is released, administrators should consider applying web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block typical XSS payloads targeting these parameters. User training to recognize suspicious links or requests can reduce the risk of successful social engineering. Enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) can mitigate the impact of stolen session cookies. Regular monitoring of logs for unusual activity related to the vulnerable endpoint is recommended. If possible, restrict access to the OpenAtlas interface to trusted networks or VPNs to reduce exposure. Finally, organizations should track vendor communications for patches or updates and apply them promptly once available.
Description
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in OpenAtlas v8.9.0 from the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage (ACDH-CH), due to inadequate validation of user input when a POST request is sent. The vulnerabilities could allow a remote user to send specially crafted queries to an authenticated user and steal their session cookie details, via the "/insert/person/<ID>” petition, "name" and "alias-0” parameters.