Overview
The vulnerability CVE-2025-48921 pertains to a significant security flaw within Drupal Open Social, a widely used social community software. This flaw is of the type Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), a type of malicious exploit of a website, whereby unauthorized commands are transmitted from a user that the application trusts. It’s critical for developers, security professionals, and Drupal Open Social users to understand this vulnerability, given its high severity score and potential for system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-48921
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Drupal Open Social | 0.0.0 before 12.3.14
Drupal Open Social | 12.4.0 before 12.4.13
How the Exploit Works
A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attack occurs when a malicious website, email, blog, instant message, or program causes a user’s web browser to perform an unwanted action on a trusted site for which the user is authenticated. In the case of CVE-2025-48921, an attacker can trick the victim into clicking a specially crafted URL that can execute unwanted actions on the Drupal Open Social platform. The attacker’s commands are executed with the privileges of the victim, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a
conceptual
example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This could be a sample HTTP request:
POST /vulnerable/endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
csrf_token=...&action=delete&target=userIDIn this case, if the user clicks on a link or a button containing this request, it could potentially delete a user, given that the attacker has correctly guessed or obtained the CSRF token.
Mitigation Guidance
The best way to address this vulnerability is to apply the vendor-supplied patch. Users of Drupal Open Social versions from 0.0.0 before 12.3.14 and from 12.4.0 before 12.4.13 are advised to update to the latest version. In the interim, or if it is not immediately possible to apply the patch, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. It’s crucial to remember, however, that these are not long-term fixes and updating to a non-vulnerable version of the software should be the priority.