CVE-2025-48098 identifies a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Ays Pro Survey Maker, a web-based survey creation platform. The flaw results from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during the generation of web pages, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that is stored persistently within the application. When other users access the compromised survey pages, the malicious scripts execute in their browsers under the context of the vulnerable site. This can lead to session hijacking, theft of sensitive information, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 5.1.8.8. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.1, reflecting a high severity due to network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), indicating that exploitation can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component. Confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts are all rated low but present. No patches or known exploits are currently documented, but the vulnerability is publicly disclosed and should be addressed promptly. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for organizations relying on Survey Maker for data collection, as malicious scripts can compromise respondent data and trust.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses risks to the confidentiality and integrity of data collected via Ays Pro Survey Maker. Attackers could steal session cookies or credentials, manipulate survey results, or execute further attacks on users. This can lead to reputational damage, regulatory non-compliance (especially under GDPR), and potential financial losses. The availability of the survey platform could also be impacted if attackers leverage the XSS to perform denial-of-service or defacement attacks. Organizations in sectors such as market research, public administration, and education that rely heavily on survey data are particularly vulnerable. The cross-site scripting nature means that even non-privileged attackers can exploit the vulnerability remotely, increasing the attack surface. Given the interconnected nature of European digital infrastructure, a successful attack could have cascading effects on trust and data integrity across multiple entities.

1. Apply patches or updates from Ays Pro as soon as they become available to address CVE-2025-48098. 2. Until patches are released, implement strict input validation on all user-supplied data fields within the survey application, ensuring that scripts or HTML tags are sanitized or escaped. 3. Employ robust output encoding techniques when rendering user input in web pages to prevent script execution. 4. Configure Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of XSS attacks. 5. Conduct regular security assessments and code reviews focused on input handling and output generation in the survey platform. 6. Educate users and administrators about phishing and social engineering risks that could facilitate exploitation via crafted survey links. 7. Monitor web application logs for unusual activity indicative of XSS exploitation attempts. 8. Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with rules tuned to detect and block XSS payloads targeting Survey Maker endpoints.