CVE-2025-54137 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) CWE-1392 vulnerability in @haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs. A fix is available for @haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs — see the affected versions and patch details below.
NodeJS version of the HAX CMS application is distributed with Default Secrets
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-54137.
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-2025-54137 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 377,636 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
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
@haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejsnpmDescription
HAX CMS NodeJS allows users to manage their microsite universe with a NodeJS backend. Versions 11.0.9 and below were distributed with hardcoded default credentials for the user and superuser accounts. Additionally, the application has default private keys for JWTs. Users aren't prompted to change credentials or secrets during installation, and there is no way to change them through the UI. An unauthenticated attacker can read the default user credentials and JWT private keys from the public haxtheweb GitHub repositories. These credentials and keys can be used to access unconfigured self-hosted instances of the application, modify sites, and perform further attacks. This is fixed in version 11.0.10.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs | all versions | 11.0.10npm install @haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs@11.0.10 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @haxtheweb/haxcms-nodejs to 11.0.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-54137 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-2025-54137 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-54137. 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-2025-54137 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-54137 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.