CVE-2025-11331

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-11331 is a command injection vulnerability discovered in IdeaCMS up to version 1.8. The flaw resides in the app/common/logic/admin/Config.php file, specifically within the Website Name Handler component. By manipulating the 网站名称 (website name) argument, an unauthenticated remote attacker can inject arbitrary operating system commands. The vendor was contacted but did not respond, leaving the vulnerability unpatched. The exploit has been publicly disclosed, increasing the risk of active exploitation. The CVSS score is 4.7 (Medium), but the public availability of exploit code and the lack of a patch elevate the real-world risk.

Supply Chain & Package Security

IdeaCMS is a standalone PHP content management system, not distributed via NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby. The supply chain risk is limited to the direct use of the vulnerable software. Users should verify the integrity of their installation and consider manual patching or migration.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
• Base Score: 4.7 (Medium)
• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) - Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) - No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) - No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) - No user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) - The vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality (C): Low (L) - Limited information disclosure possible.
• Integrity (I): Low (L) - Limited modification possible.
• Availability (A): None (N) - No direct impact on availability.

Threat Level: High (due to public exploit and no patch).

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is a classic command injection flaw in the Config.php file. The application takes user-supplied input for the website name (网站名称) and passes it unsanitized to a function that executes system commands, likely for configuration updates or file operations. The lack of input validation or escaping allows an attacker to inject shell metacharacters (e.g., ;, |, &&, `) to execute arbitrary commands.

The vulnerable code path is:

1. An HTTP request is made to the admin configuration endpoint.
2. The 网站名称 parameter is extracted.
3. This parameter is used in a function like exec(), system(), or shell_exec() without proper sanitization.
4. The injected command is executed with the privileges of the web server.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no official patch exists, the following is a hypothetical comparison based on common remediation patterns.

Vulnerable Code (app/common/logic/admin/Config.php):

<?php
// Vulnerable: Direct use of user input in shell command
$website_name = $_POST['website_name'];
$command = "echo '$website_name' > /tmp/website_name.txt";
exec($command, $output, $return_var);
?>

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
// Patched: Input sanitization and escaping
$website_name = $_POST['website_name'];
// Validate and sanitize input
$website_name = preg_replace('/[^a-zA-Z0-9\s\-_]/', '', $website_name);
// Use escapeshellarg to prevent injection
$command = "echo " . escapeshellarg($website_name) . " > /tmp/website_name.txt";
exec($command, $output, $return_var);
?>

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

1. Deploy a vulnerable IdeaCMS instance (version 1.8) on a local VM (e.g., using Docker or a LAMP stack).
2. Access the admin panel at http://target/admin.
3. Locate the configuration page where the website name is set.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Intercept the request to update the website name using a proxy like Burp Suite.
2. Modify the website_name parameter to include a command injection payload.
3. Example payload: test; id > /tmp/exploit.txt
4. Send the request.
5. Verify execution by checking the file /tmp/exploit.txt on the server.

Proof-of-Concept (PoC) using cURL:

curl -X POST http://target/admin/config.php \
  -d "website_name=test; whoami > /tmp/pwned.txt"

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual POST requests to /admin/config.php with suspicious parameters.
• Look for shell metacharacters (;, |, &, `) in the website_name parameter.
• Check for unexpected file creations in /tmp/ or other writable directories.

Hunting:

• Search logs for exec, system, shell_exec calls with user input.
• Use the YARA and Sigma rules provided in the Detection Engineering section.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • POST requests to /admin/config.php with website_name containing shell metacharacters.
  • Outbound connections from the web server to external IPs (if reverse shell is used).
• File System:
  • Unexpected files in /tmp/ (e.g., pwned.txt, exploit.txt).
  • Modified configuration files in the IdeaCMS directory.
• Process:
  • Unusual child processes spawned by the web server (e.g., id, whoami, bash).
• Logs:
  • Web server access logs showing 200 responses to /admin/config.php with long or suspicious parameters.
  • System logs showing command execution events.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_11331_Command_Injection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects command injection attempts targeting IdeaCMS CVE-2025-11331"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-11331"
    strings:
        $s1 = "website_name=" nocase
        $s2 = ";" or "|" or "&" or "`" or "$("
        $s3 = "exec" or "system" or "shell_exec" or "passthru"
    condition:
        $s1 and $s2 and $s3
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-11331 Command Injection in IdeaCMS
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects command injection attempts targeting the website name parameter in IdeaCMS
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/04/10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: '/admin/config.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'website_name='
        cs-uri-query|re: '.*[;|&`$].*'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of special characters in website name (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-11331 Command Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/admin/config.php"; http_uri; content:"website_name="; http_client_body; pcre:"/[;|&`$]/R"; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the vulnerable functionality: If possible, restrict access to the admin configuration page via .htaccess or firewall rules.
2. Input validation: Implement strict input validation for the website_name parameter. Allow only alphanumeric characters, spaces, and hyphens.
3. Use escapeshellarg(): If the input must be used in a shell command, wrap it with escapeshellarg() to prevent injection.
4. Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploy a WAF rule to block requests containing shell metacharacters in the website_name parameter.

Long-term Actions:

1. Vendor contact: Continue attempting to contact the vendor for an official patch.
2. Migration: Consider migrating to a supported CMS if the vendor remains unresponsive.
3. Code audit: Perform a full security audit of the IdeaCMS codebase to identify similar vulnerabilities.

Workaround:

• Manually patch the app/common/logic/admin/Config.php file by adding input sanitization as shown in the patched code example.

Valters IT