CVE-2025-5497 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting slackero phpwcms versions up to 1.9.45 and 1.10.8. The vulnerability resides in the Feedimport Module, specifically in the file include/inc_module/mod_feedimport/inc/processing.inc.php. It involves unsafe deserialization triggered by manipulation of the cnt_text argument. Deserialization vulnerabilities occur when untrusted data is processed by a program to reconstruct objects, which can lead to remote code execution, data tampering, or denial of service if exploited. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely without user interaction or authentication, increasing its risk profile. The CVSS 4.0 vector indicates network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:L - low privileges, but some are needed), no user interaction (UI:N), and low impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The exploit is publicly available, which raises the urgency for patching. The vendor has released patched versions 1.9.46 and 1.10.9 to address this issue, with the patch identified by commit 41a72eca0baa9d9d0214fec97db2400bc082d2a9. Organizations using affected versions of phpwcms should prioritize upgrading to these versions to mitigate the risk. The vulnerability's presence in a content management system module that imports feeds suggests that attackers could inject malicious serialized payloads via feed content, potentially compromising the web server or application environment.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for those relying on phpwcms for website or content management. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized code execution, data breaches, or service disruption. This is particularly critical for sectors with sensitive data such as finance, healthcare, and government institutions. The ability to exploit remotely without user interaction or elevated privileges means attackers can automate attacks at scale, increasing the risk of widespread compromise. Additionally, compromised web infrastructure can be used as a pivot point for further attacks within corporate networks. The public availability of exploits increases the likelihood of active exploitation attempts targeting European entities. Organizations with public-facing phpwcms installations are at higher risk, and failure to patch promptly could result in reputational damage, regulatory penalties under GDPR for data breaches, and operational downtime.

1. Immediate upgrade of phpwcms to versions 1.9.46 or 1.10.9, which contain the official patch for this vulnerability. 2. If upgrading is temporarily not possible, implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious serialized payloads targeting the cnt_text parameter in the Feedimport Module. 3. Conduct an audit of all phpwcms instances to identify affected versions and ensure no legacy or forgotten installations remain unpatched. 4. Restrict network access to the Feedimport Module endpoints where feasible, limiting exposure to trusted sources only. 5. Monitor logs for unusual activity related to feed imports or deserialization errors that could indicate exploitation attempts. 6. Employ runtime application self-protection (RASP) tools that can detect and prevent deserialization attacks dynamically. 7. Educate development and operations teams about secure deserialization practices and the risks of processing untrusted data. 8. Regularly review and update incident response plans to include scenarios involving web application deserialization vulnerabilities.