Overview
The cybersecurity landscape is continually evolving with new vulnerabilities cropping up every other day. One such vulnerability that has come to the fore is CVE-2025-26496. This is a ‘Type Confusion’ vulnerability that affects Salesforce Tableau Server and Desktop on both Windows and Linux platforms. This vulnerability is of high significance due to its potential to allow local code inclusion, opening up systems and data to potential compromise and leakage.
The severity of this vulnerability is underscored by its CVSS severity score of 9.3, which falls into the critical range. It’s a wake-up call for organizations using the affected Salesforce Tableau versions to take immediate action to mitigate any potential risks.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-26496
Severity: Critical (9.3 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Local Code Inclusion
Privileges Required: User level
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Tableau Server | Before 2025.1.3
Tableau Desktop | Before 2024.2.12, Before 2023.3.19
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability stems from the use of an incompatible type to access a resource in the File Upload modules of the affected Tableau products. This ‘Type Confusion‘ can be exploited by an attacker to include local code within the system. Once the code is included, it allows for manipulation of system behavior, potentially leading to system compromise and data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Given the nature of the vulnerability, an attacker could potentially exploit it by uploading a malicious file. Here’s an example of how this might look:
POST /file_upload HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable.tableau.example.com
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
{ "file": "malicious_file.exe" }In this hypothetical example, the attacker is uploading a malicious executable file (.exe) via the file upload module. If the system is vulnerable and does not properly handle the incompatible file type, this could lead to the inclusion and execution of the malicious code.
Please note that this is a simplified example for illustrative purposes. Real-world attacks can be much more complex and may not necessarily follow this exact pattern.
