CVE-2025-48920 is a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the Drupal etracker module, affecting versions prior to 3.1.0 (notably from version 0.0.0 before 3.1.0). The vulnerability arises due to improper neutralization of input during web page generation, classified under CWE-79. This means that user-supplied input is not correctly sanitized or encoded before being embedded into web pages, allowing an attacker to inject malicious scripts. When a victim accesses a compromised page, the injected script can execute in the context of the victim's browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, unauthorized actions on behalf of the user, or redirection to malicious sites. The etracker module is used within Drupal to integrate web analytics and tracking functionalities, which often involves processing user input or query parameters. The lack of a patch or fix at the time of publication indicates that the vulnerability remains unmitigated. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, but the nature of XSS vulnerabilities makes them attractive targets for attackers due to their relative ease of exploitation and potential impact on user trust and data confidentiality. The vulnerability does not require authentication or complex user interaction beyond visiting a crafted URL or page. Since Drupal is a widely used content management system (CMS) in Europe, especially among public sector and enterprise websites, the exposure risk is significant wherever the etracker module is deployed without updates.

For European organizations, this XSS vulnerability poses several risks. Exploitation could lead to theft of session cookies or authentication tokens, enabling attackers to impersonate legitimate users, including administrators. This can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of website content, or further compromise of backend systems. The integrity and confidentiality of user data collected or processed by the etracker module could be undermined. Additionally, successful exploitation can damage organizational reputation, especially for public-facing websites in sectors such as government, finance, and healthcare, where Drupal has notable adoption. The vulnerability could also facilitate phishing attacks by injecting malicious scripts that alter webpage appearance or behavior. Given the lack of known exploits currently, the immediate risk is moderate, but the potential for rapid weaponization exists once exploit code becomes publicly available. The availability impact is generally low for XSS, but indirect effects such as site defacement or loss of user trust could have operational consequences.

Organizations should prioritize upgrading the Drupal etracker module to version 3.1.0 or later once available, as this will likely contain the necessary fixes for input neutralization. Until a patch is released, implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of inline scripts and limit the domains from which scripts can be loaded. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules targeting common XSS attack patterns to detect and block malicious payloads. Review and sanitize all user inputs and outputs related to the etracker module manually if feasible, applying context-aware encoding (e.g., HTML entity encoding) to prevent script injection. Conduct thorough security testing, including automated and manual XSS scanning, focusing on pages integrating etracker functionality. Educate web developers and administrators about secure coding practices specific to Drupal modules and input validation. Monitor logs for unusual activity or attempted exploitation attempts. Finally, consider isolating or disabling the etracker module temporarily if the risk is deemed unacceptable and no immediate patch is available.