VulnerabilityPublished 19 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-52478: n8n · Cross-site Scripting

Affects n8nSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.7 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.7High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 33% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Upgrade n8n installations to version 1.98.2 or later immediately to apply the official patch addressing this vulnerability.
Enforce strong authentication policies, including mandatory two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users to reduce the risk of account takeover.
Restrict access to the Form Trigger node configuration to only trusted and necessary users to minimize the attack surface.
Implement strict input validation and sanitization on any custom forms or user-generated content within n8n workflows, if customization is used.
Monitor logs and user activity for unusual behavior indicative of account compromise, such as unexpected changes to account details or workflow configurations.
Educate users about the risks of clicking on untrusted links or forms within the n8n environment to reduce the likelihood of triggering malicious payloads.
Consider network segmentation and limiting n8n access to trusted networks to reduce exposure.
Regularly review and audit n8n workflows and nodes for unauthorized modifications or suspicious content.

Description

n8n is a workflow automation platform. From 1.77.0 to before 1.98.2, a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability was identified in n8n, specifically in the Form Trigger node's HTML form element. An authenticated attacker can inject malicious HTML via an <iframe> with a srcdoc payload that includes arbitrary JavaScript execution. The attacker can also inject malicious Javascript by using <video> coupled <source> using an onerror event. While using iframe or a combination of video and source tag, this vulnerability allows for Account Takeover (ATO) by exfiltrating n8n-browserId and session cookies from authenticated users who visit a maliciously crafted form. Using these tokens and cookies, an attacker can impersonate the victim and change account details such as email addresses, enabling full control over the account—especially if 2FA is not enabled. Users should upgrade to version >= 1.98.2.

Impact

For European organizations using n8n for workflow automation, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of their automation environments. Successful exploitation can lead to account takeover, allowing attackers to manipulate workflows, access sensitive data processed by n8n, and potentially pivot to other internal systems. Given that n8n is often used to integrate various services and automate business-critical processes, compromise could disrupt operations and lead to data breaches. The ability to change account details and bypass authentication controls increases the risk of persistent unauthorized access. Organizations without enforced 2FA are particularly vulnerable. Additionally, the stored nature of the XSS means that multiple users may be exposed once a malicious form is injected, amplifying the impact. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests limited immediate threat, but the high CVSS score and ease of exploitation by authenticated users necessitate prompt remediation to prevent potential targeted attacks.

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #1OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Implementation · Architecture and Design
Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages.
Architecture and Design · Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter your software: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Cross Site Scripting Prevention (opens in a new tab)
DOM based XSS Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XSS Using MIME Type Mismatch (opens in a new tab)
DOM-Based XSS (opens in a new tab)
Reflected XSS (opens in a new tab)
Stored XSS (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 19 Aug 2025, 17:02 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-79

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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