GHSA-9jr9-8ff3-m894 — high GitHub Advisory (CVE-2025-54378) in npm/@haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs

Description

Summary

The HAX CMS API endpoints do not perform authorization checks when interacting with a resource. Both the JS and PHP versions of the CMS do not verify that a user has permission to interact with a resource before performing a given operation.

Details

The API endpoints within the HAX CMS application check if a user is authenticated, but don't check for authorization before performing an operation.

Affected Resources

Operations.php: 760 createNode()
Operations.php: 868 saveNode()
Operations.php: 1171 deleteNode()
Operations.php: 1789 listSites()
Operations.php: 1890 createSite()
Operations.php: 2196 getConfig()
Operations.php: 2389 cloneSite()
Operations.php: 2467 deleteSite()
Operations.php: 2524 downloadSite()
Operations.php: 2607 archiveSite()

Note: This may not include all affected endpoints within the application.

Impact

An authenticated attacker can make requests to interact with other users' sites. This can be used to enumerate, modify, and delete other users' sites and nodes.

Additionally, an authenticated attacker can use the 'getConfig' endpoint to pull the application's configuration, which may store cleartext credentials.

PoC - /deleteNode

Browse to the 'site.json' file for a target site, and note the ID of the item to delete.

Make a POST request to the 'deleteNode' endpoint with a valid JWT and the target object ID.

Site before editing:

Site after editing:

Basic information

Type: reviewed
Severity: high
Advisory on GitHub: Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory: Open repository advisory ↗
Source code: Not specified
Published (advisory): 2025-07-25 20:10:22 UTC
Updated: 2025-07-28 13:04:33 UTC
GitHub reviewed: 2025-07-25 20:10:22 UTC
NVD published: 2025-07-26

Score	Percentile
0.09%	25.06%

CVSS Scores

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector
8.3	3.1	—	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

Type	Value
GHSA	GHSA-9jr9-8ff3-m894 ↗
CVE	CVE-2025-54378 ↗

CWEs

CWE id	Name
CWE-285	Improper Authorization
CWE-862	Missing Authorization

Credits

lfgberg (reporter)

Affected packages (2)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	First patched	Vulnerable functions
npm	@haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs	< 11.0.14	11.0.14	—
composer	elmsln/haxcms	< 11.0.14	11.0.14	—

HAX CMS API Lacks Authorization Checks