CVE-2025-54057 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-80, indicating improper neutralization of script-related HTML tags, commonly known as a basic Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) flaw. The vulnerability affects Apache SkyWalking, an open-source application performance monitoring and observability platform widely used for tracing, monitoring, and diagnosing distributed systems. Versions up to and including 10.2.0 are vulnerable. The flaw arises because the software fails to properly sanitize or encode user-supplied input that is reflected in web pages, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code. When a victim user accesses a compromised or crafted page, the injected script executes in their browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the user. Exploitation does not require authentication, increasing the attack surface, but does require that the victim interacts with the malicious content, such as clicking a link or viewing a manipulated page. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the vulnerability was reserved and published in 2025, with Apache releasing version 10.3.0 to remediate the issue. The lack of a CVSS score necessitates an independent severity assessment based on impact and exploitability factors.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-54057 can be significant, especially for those relying on Apache SkyWalking for monitoring critical infrastructure, cloud services, or enterprise applications. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive monitoring data, session hijacking, or manipulation of user interactions within the monitoring dashboard. This can undermine trust in monitoring data integrity and confidentiality, potentially delaying incident response or masking ongoing attacks. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and government, which often deploy observability platforms like SkyWalking, may face increased risk of data breaches or operational disruptions. Furthermore, the vulnerability could be leveraged as a foothold for further attacks within internal networks if attackers gain access through compromised user sessions. The absence of known exploits provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the ease of exploitation and broad deployment of the affected software necessitate urgent attention.

1. Immediate upgrade to Apache SkyWalking version 10.3.0 or later, which contains the official fix for this vulnerability. 2. Implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data within custom integrations or extensions of SkyWalking to prevent injection of malicious scripts. 3. Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts in browsers accessing the SkyWalking interface. 4. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focused on web interface components to detect similar injection flaws. 5. Educate users and administrators about phishing and social engineering risks associated with XSS attacks to reduce the likelihood of successful exploitation. 6. Monitor logs and network traffic for unusual activity indicative of attempted XSS exploitation or session hijacking. 7. Isolate monitoring infrastructure from general user networks where possible to limit exposure. These measures, combined with timely patching, will significantly reduce the risk posed by this vulnerability.