CVE-2025-49138 — elmsln/haxcms
MEDIUMCVE-2025-49138 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in elmsln/haxcms. A fix is available for elmsln/haxcms — see the affected versions and patch details below.
HAX CMS vulnerable to Local File Inclusion via saveOutline API Location Parameter
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-49138.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2025-49138 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
elmsln/haxcmsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
HAX CMS PHP allows users to manage their microsite universe with a PHP backend. Prior to version 11.0.0, an authenticated Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in the HAXCMS saveOutline endpoint allows a low-privileged user to read arbitrary files on the server by manipulating the location field written into site.json. This enables attackers to exfiltrate sensitive system files such as /etc/passwd, application secrets, or configuration files accessible to the web server (www-data). The vulnerability stems from the way the HAXCMS backend handles the location field in the site's outline. When a user sends a POST request to /system/api/saveOutline, the backend stores the provided location value directly into the site.json file associated with the site, without validating or sanitizing the input. Later the location parameter is interpreted by the CMS to resolve and load the content for a given node. If the location field contains a relative path like ../../../etc/passwd, the application will attempt to read and render that file. Version 11.0.0 fixes the issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | elmsln/haxcms | all versions | 11.0.0composer require elmsln/haxcms:^11.0.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for elmsln/haxcms, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update elmsln/haxcms to 11.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-49138 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2025-49138 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-49138. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-49138 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-49138 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.