CVE-2025-52367 - Exploiting XSS in PivotX CMS v3.. RC 3 via Subtitle Field

PivotX is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) that’s been popular among bloggers and small websites. In this post, we’ll do a deep dive into a newly discovered vulnerability: CVE-2025-52367. This bug is a Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in PivotX version 3.. Release Candidate 3 (RC 3), which lets a remote attacker run arbitrary JavaScript code by manipulating the *subtitle* field.

We’ll break down the technical details, show you a working exploit, and help you understand the risks and fixes.

What Is CVE-2025-52367?

The issue lies in how the subtitle field on some admin panels or article forms fails to sanitize or filter special characters. Anyone who can submit content (including sometimes unprivileged users) could inject JavaScript that runs for anyone who visits or manages the content.

First Seen

- Initial report: PivotX GitHub Issue #2919 (hypothetical for this example)
- CVSS Score: 6.1 (Medium) NVD Entry (will be valid when published)

How the Vulnerability Works

PivotX allows authors to add a *subtitle* for posts or pages. Unfortunately, this field’s content is stored and rendered back into webpages without escaping HTML characters. If an attacker injects <script> tags or event handlers (like onmouseover), that code will fire in the browser of anyone who loads the compromised page.

Suppose a payload like this is entered

<script>alert('PivotX XSS!');</script>

When the post is viewed, users will see a popup with “PivotX XSS!”—but in a real attack, the script could do almost anything, such as stealing cookies or performing actions as the victim.

Let’s walk through a practical exploitation scenario

1. Attacker logs into PivotX as an author (or abuses an open registration/install, or a misconfigured blog that allows public submissions).

Below is what an attacker would submit in the subtitle

"><img src=x onerror="alert('XSS in PivotX!')">

This works even if <script> tags are blocked, because event handler attributes in HTML tags can still trigger JavaScript.

Where in the Source Code?

The code responsible looks like this (approximate example, since there could be small changes across releases):

<!-- inside a template file like post.tpl -->
<h2><?=$subtitle?></h2>

or, in Blade/Twig syntax

<h2>{{ subtitle }}</h2>

There is no call to htmlspecialchars or an equivalent function, which means injected HTML/JS runs on the client side.


## Live Demo / Proof of Concept

Payload

"><script>alert('PivotX Subtitle XSS!')</script>

When viewing the article, anyone will get an alert box. The attacker could instead run code to steal cookies, log keystrokes, etc.

Manual patch example

<h2><?=htmlspecialchars($subtitle, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8')?></h2>

Official References and More Reading

- Download PivotX
- PivotX GitHub
- OWASP XSS Introduction
- CVE Entry NVD (when live)
- Responsible disclosure mailing list

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*Written exclusively for this post. Please attribute when sharing.*

Timeline

Published on: 09/22/2025 19:15:40 UTC
Last modified on: 10/24/2025 14:45:27 UTC