Overview
A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-51733, has been discovered in HCL Technologies Ltd.’s Unica 12.0.0. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to trick a user into performing actions on the Unica application without their knowledge or consent. This article provides a detailed overview of the vulnerability, its potential impact, and recommended mitigation steps.
Technical Details
CVE-2025-51733 is a CSRF vulnerability. CSRF vulnerabilities arise when a web application doesn’t adequately verify that a request was intentionally initiated by the authenticated user. An attacker can exploit this by crafting malicious HTML code (e.g., embedded in an email or website) that, when accessed by an authenticated Unica user, triggers unauthorized actions within the Unica application. This could include actions such as modifying user settings, creating new accounts, or performing other administrative tasks, depending on the user’s privileges.
Specifically, the vulnerability in HCL Unica 12.0.0 involves [Provide specific details from the Github Gist if available – example: missing CSRF protection on specific API endpoints]. This lack of protection allows attackers to forge requests that appear to originate from the legitimate user.
CVSS Analysis
According to the information available, CVE-2025-51733 has a CVSS score of N/A and a Severity rating of N/A. This might indicate that the severity hasn’t been determined yet, or it is considered a low risk by the vendor. However, it is crucial not to dismiss CSRF vulnerabilities entirely. Even without a high CVSS score, the potential impact on user security and data integrity can be significant. A missing score doesn’t mean there is no risk. An analysis is pending.
A full security assessment should be performed if a CVSS score is currently unassigned.
Possible Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-51733 could have the following impacts:
- Unauthorized Account Modification: An attacker could modify user account settings, potentially gaining control of the account.
- Data Manipulation: Depending on the user’s permissions, an attacker could modify or delete critical data within the Unica application.
- Privilege Escalation: In some cases, an attacker could potentially escalate their privileges within the application.
- Business Disruption: Unauthorized actions could disrupt normal business operations and lead to financial losses.
Mitigation and Patch Steps
To mitigate the risk posed by CVE-2025-51733, the following steps are recommended:
- Apply the Official Patch: The most effective solution is to apply the official patch released by HCL Technologies Ltd. Check the HCL support portal and Unica’s documentation for the latest updates and instructions.
- Implement CSRF Protection: If a patch is not immediately available, consider implementing CSRF protection mechanisms, such as:
- Synchronizer Tokens: Use unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session and validate them on every state-changing request.
- Double-Submit Cookies: Set a random value in a cookie and include the same value in a hidden form field. Validate that both values match on the server.
- Referer Header Validation: While not foolproof, validate that the Referer header matches the expected origin of the application.
- User Education: Educate users about the dangers of clicking on suspicious links or opening attachments from untrusted sources.
- Web Application Firewall (WAF): Configure a WAF to detect and block malicious requests, including those attempting to exploit CSRF vulnerabilities.
- Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in your Unica deployment.