CVE-2025-46452: CWE-352 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in Olav Kolbu Google News
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Olav Kolbu Google News allows Stored XSS. This issue affects Google News: from n/a through 2.5.1.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
CVE-2025-46452 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the Olav Kolbu Google News product, specifically affecting versions up to 2.5.1. The vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of an authenticated user by exploiting the lack of proper CSRF protections. This vulnerability is further complicated by the presence of Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) capabilities, meaning that an attacker can inject malicious scripts that persist on the platform and execute in the context of other users' browsers. The combination of CSRF and Stored XSS significantly increases the attack surface and potential impact. The vulnerability arises due to insufficient validation of user requests and inadequate anti-CSRF tokens or mechanisms, allowing crafted requests from malicious sites to be accepted and processed by the Google News application. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's nature suggests that exploitation could lead to session hijacking, unauthorized actions such as changing user settings, or spreading malware through persistent script injection. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting indicates that users of affected versions remain vulnerable until a fix is released. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-352, emphasizing the importance of request origin validation and anti-CSRF defenses in web applications. Given the product's role as a news aggregation platform, exploitation could also be leveraged for misinformation campaigns or targeted attacks against specific user groups.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be multifaceted. Organizations that rely on Olav Kolbu Google News for internal news aggregation or public-facing information dissemination could face risks of unauthorized content manipulation or user session compromise. Stored XSS combined with CSRF can enable attackers to execute arbitrary scripts, potentially leading to credential theft, unauthorized data access, or lateral movement within corporate networks if internal users are targeted. This is particularly concerning for media companies, government agencies, and enterprises that integrate Google News into their information workflows. The manipulation of news content or injection of malicious scripts could also undermine trust in information sources, which is critical in the European context given the emphasis on information integrity and combating disinformation. Furthermore, the vulnerability could be exploited to target users with phishing or malware campaigns, increasing the risk of broader cybersecurity incidents. The absence of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future attacks, especially as threat actors often weaponize such vulnerabilities once disclosed. The medium severity rating reflects the moderate complexity of exploitation and the potential for significant impact on confidentiality and integrity, though availability impact is likely limited.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should implement several specific measures beyond generic advice: 1) Immediate review and restriction of user privileges within the Google News platform to minimize the impact of potential CSRF attacks. 2) Deployment of web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious CSRF patterns and payloads associated with Stored XSS attempts targeting Google News endpoints. 3) Encourage or enforce the use of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts, reducing the impact of Stored XSS. 4) Monitor network traffic and user activity logs for unusual request patterns indicative of CSRF exploitation attempts. 5) Engage with the vendor (Olav Kolbu) to obtain timely patches or updates and apply them as soon as they become available. 6) Conduct internal security awareness training focusing on the risks of CSRF and XSS, emphasizing cautious interaction with links and content within Google News. 7) For organizations integrating Google News into internal systems, consider isolating or sandboxing the integration to limit the spread of malicious scripts. 8) Regularly audit and update anti-CSRF tokens and validation mechanisms in any custom integrations or extensions related to Google News. These targeted actions will help reduce the attack surface and mitigate the risk until an official patch is released.
Affected Countries
Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Austria
CVE-2025-46452: CWE-352 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in Olav Kolbu Google News
Description
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Olav Kolbu Google News allows Stored XSS. This issue affects Google News: from n/a through 2.5.1.
AI-Powered Analysis
Technical Analysis
CVE-2025-46452 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the Olav Kolbu Google News product, specifically affecting versions up to 2.5.1. The vulnerability allows an attacker to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of an authenticated user by exploiting the lack of proper CSRF protections. This vulnerability is further complicated by the presence of Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) capabilities, meaning that an attacker can inject malicious scripts that persist on the platform and execute in the context of other users' browsers. The combination of CSRF and Stored XSS significantly increases the attack surface and potential impact. The vulnerability arises due to insufficient validation of user requests and inadequate anti-CSRF tokens or mechanisms, allowing crafted requests from malicious sites to be accepted and processed by the Google News application. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's nature suggests that exploitation could lead to session hijacking, unauthorized actions such as changing user settings, or spreading malware through persistent script injection. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting indicates that users of affected versions remain vulnerable until a fix is released. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-352, emphasizing the importance of request origin validation and anti-CSRF defenses in web applications. Given the product's role as a news aggregation platform, exploitation could also be leveraged for misinformation campaigns or targeted attacks against specific user groups.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be multifaceted. Organizations that rely on Olav Kolbu Google News for internal news aggregation or public-facing information dissemination could face risks of unauthorized content manipulation or user session compromise. Stored XSS combined with CSRF can enable attackers to execute arbitrary scripts, potentially leading to credential theft, unauthorized data access, or lateral movement within corporate networks if internal users are targeted. This is particularly concerning for media companies, government agencies, and enterprises that integrate Google News into their information workflows. The manipulation of news content or injection of malicious scripts could also undermine trust in information sources, which is critical in the European context given the emphasis on information integrity and combating disinformation. Furthermore, the vulnerability could be exploited to target users with phishing or malware campaigns, increasing the risk of broader cybersecurity incidents. The absence of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future attacks, especially as threat actors often weaponize such vulnerabilities once disclosed. The medium severity rating reflects the moderate complexity of exploitation and the potential for significant impact on confidentiality and integrity, though availability impact is likely limited.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should implement several specific measures beyond generic advice: 1) Immediate review and restriction of user privileges within the Google News platform to minimize the impact of potential CSRF attacks. 2) Deployment of web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious CSRF patterns and payloads associated with Stored XSS attempts targeting Google News endpoints. 3) Encourage or enforce the use of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts, reducing the impact of Stored XSS. 4) Monitor network traffic and user activity logs for unusual request patterns indicative of CSRF exploitation attempts. 5) Engage with the vendor (Olav Kolbu) to obtain timely patches or updates and apply them as soon as they become available. 6) Conduct internal security awareness training focusing on the risks of CSRF and XSS, emphasizing cautious interaction with links and content within Google News. 7) For organizations integrating Google News into internal systems, consider isolating or sandboxing the integration to limit the spread of malicious scripts. 8) Regularly audit and update anti-CSRF tokens and validation mechanisms in any custom integrations or extensions related to Google News. These targeted actions will help reduce the attack surface and mitigate the risk until an official patch is released.
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Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.1
- Assigner Short Name
- Patchstack
- Date Reserved
- 2025-04-24T14:22:16.422Z
- Cisa Enriched
- true
Threat ID: 682d983fc4522896dcbf069c
Added to database: 5/21/2025, 9:09:19 AM
Last enriched: 6/24/2025, 10:56:25 AM
Last updated: 7/25/2025, 3:42:44 PM
Views: 12
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