CVE-2025-48994 | SignXML's signature verification with HMAC is vulnerable to an algorithm confusion attack

SignXML is an implementation of the W3C XML Signature standard in Python. When verifying signatures with X509 certificate validation turned off and HMAC shared secret set (`signxml.XMLVerifier.verify(require_x509=False, hmac_key=...`), versions of SignXML prior to 4.0.4 are vulnerable to a potential algorithm confusion attack. Unless the user explicitly limits the expected signature algorithms using the `signxml.XMLVerifier.verify(expect_config=...)` setting, an attacker may supply a signature unexpectedly signed with a key other than the provided HMAC key, using a different (asymmetric key) signature algorithm. Starting with SignXML 4.0.4, specifying `hmac_key` causes the set of accepted signature algorithms to be restricted to HMAC only, if not already restricted by the user.

Published: 2025-06-02 Last update: 2026-04-15 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Deferred，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-48994 is rated Moderate Risk (42.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.20%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-48994

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-29 0.06% 0.20% +0.14%
2 2026-02-16 0.04% 0.06% +0.02%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-48994

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.9 4.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:N)
No additional preconditions are required beyond normal reachability.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:L)
Limited integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:X)
Not defined: no reliable threat intelligence; scoring assumes the worst case (equivalent to Attacked).
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X)
Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X)
Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X)
Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X)
Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X)
Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X)
Not evaluated.
 — — [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-48994

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-48994

GHSA-6vx8-pcwv-xhf4 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: pip — SignXML's signature verification with HMAC is vulnerable to an algorithm confusion attack

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-48994

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-48994 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (python-signxml), 3 status rows across 3 suites (forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-48994
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-48994 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (python-signxml), 7 status rows across 7 suites (focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream): DNE 4, needs-triage 2, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-48994

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-48994

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2025-48994

cvelogic Threat Intelligence