CVE-2025-40700: Alert! XSS Vulnerability Exposes IDI Eikon’s Governalia

Overview

CVE-2025-40700 details a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability found in IDI Eikon’s Governalia. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to inject and execute malicious JavaScript code within a user’s browser by crafting a specific URL. This malicious URL, when clicked by a user, could lead to the theft of sensitive information or unauthorized actions performed on the user’s behalf.

Technical Details

The vulnerability resides within the /search endpoint of Governalia. Specifically, the application fails to properly sanitize the q parameter. An attacker can exploit this by injecting JavaScript code into the q parameter of the URL. When a user clicks on a crafted link containing malicious JavaScript, the script is executed in the context of the user’s browser, within the Governalia domain.

Example malicious URL:

https://governalia.es/search?q=<script>alert('XSS Vulnerability!')</script>

CVSS Analysis

As the official CVSS score is currently marked as N/A, we will estimate the severity. Due to the nature of reflected XSS and the potential for data theft and account compromise, this vulnerability should be considered a **Medium** to **High** severity issue depending on the scope of Governalia’s user data. A hypothetical CVSS score could be around 6.1-7.5.

Base Score Considerations:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – Exploitable over the network
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – Requires minimal user interaction
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No privileges are required to exploit
• User Interaction (UI): Required (R) – Requires user to click on a malicious link
• Scope (S): Changed (C) – An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component
• Confidentiality Impact (C): Low (L) – Limited information disclosure
• Integrity Impact (I): Low (L) – Limited modification of data
• Availability Impact (A): None (N) – No impact on system availability

Possible Impact

Successful exploitation of this XSS vulnerability could lead to:

• Session Hijacking: Attackers could steal session cookies, allowing them to impersonate the victim and gain unauthorized access to their Governalia account.
• Data Theft: Sensitive information displayed within the Governalia interface could be accessed and stolen by the attacker.
• Phishing Attacks: The attacker could inject malicious forms or scripts that mimic the Governalia login page, tricking users into providing their credentials.
• Defacement: The attacker could modify the content of the Governalia page as seen by the victim.
• Redirection to Malicious Websites: The attacker could redirect the user to a malicious website that could install malware on their system.

Mitigation or Patch Steps

To mitigate this vulnerability, IDI Eikon should implement the following measures:

• Input Validation and Sanitization: All user-supplied input, especially the q parameter in the /search endpoint, must be properly validated and sanitized to remove or escape any potentially malicious characters or code. Use established XSS prevention libraries for the relevant programming language.
• Output Encoding: Ensure that all output displayed to the user is properly encoded to prevent the execution of any injected JavaScript code.
• Content Security Policy (CSP): Implement a strong Content Security Policy (CSP) to restrict the sources from which the browser can load resources. This can help prevent the execution of unauthorized scripts.
• Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and block XSS attacks before they reach the application.
• Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in the application.
• Apply the official patch As soon as the vendor provides it, apply the patch to the Governalia installation.