CVE-2025-2776: Unauthenticated XXE Vulnerability in SysAid On-Prem Leading to Admin Account Takeover

Overview

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, with danger lurking in the most unexpected places. One such threat is CVE-2025-2776, an unauthenticated XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in SysAid On-Prem. This vulnerability, which is present in versions up to and including 23.3.40, has the potential to allow an attacker to take over an administrator account and read files in the system.
This vulnerability is particularly concerning because SysAid On-Prem is used by many organizations for IT service management. Therefore, an exploit could not only compromise the security of individual systems, but also potentially impact the entire IT operations of affected organizations.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-2776
Severity: Critical (9.3 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Remote
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Administrator account takeover, potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

SysAid On-Prem | <= 23.3.40 How the Exploit Works

An attacker exploiting CVE-2025-2776 would manipulate the Server URL processing functionality in SysAid On-Prem through an unauthenticated XML External Entity (XXE) injection. By sending a malicious XML payload, the attacker could force the software to execute arbitrary code or access arbitrary files, potentially leading to an administrator account takeover. This could then be leveraged to compromise the system or leak sensitive data.

Conceptual Example Code

Below is a conceptual example of exploiting this vulnerability, where the attacker sends a malicious XML payload to the server:

POST /sysaid/api/server HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/xml
<!DOCTYPE foo [ <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///etc/passwd"> ]>
<request>
<serverURL>&xxe;</serverURL>
</request>

In this example, the XML payload contains an entity (`&xxe;`) that forces the server to read a sensitive file (`/etc/passwd`). If the attack is successful, the server will return the contents of the file in the response, revealing sensitive information that could be used for further exploitation.