Description
PKP-WAL versions 3.5.0-3 and below suffer from a LESS X-Forwarded-Host related code injection vulnerability...
Basic Information
ID
PACKETSTORM:213268
Published
Dec 23, 2025 at 00:00
Affected Product
Affected Versions
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PKP-WAL <= 3.5.0-3 (X-Forwarded-Host) LESS Code Injection Vulnerability
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[-] Software Links:
https://pkp.sfu.ca
https://github.com/pkp/pkp-lib
[-] Affected Versions:
PKP Web Application Library (aka PKP-WAL or pkp-lib) version 3.4.0-10
and prior versions, and version 3.5.0-3 and prior versions, as used in
Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), and Open
Preprint Systems (OPS).
[-] Vulnerability Description:
The vulnerability exists within the PKPTemplateManager::compileLess()
method, which will call the Less_Parser::parse() method passing to it
the "baseUrl" variable. Such a variable, which is constructed from a
call to the $request->getBaseUrl() method, can be manipulated by
unauthenticated attackers through the X-Forwarded-Host HTTP header,
and this can be exploited to perform LESS Code Injection attacks,
subsequently leading to SSRF or Local File Read attacks.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires the
allowed_hosts setting to be set to an empty string within the
config.inc.php script.
[-] Solution:
No official solution is currently available.
[-] Disclosure Timeline:
[21/10/2025] - Vendor notified
[24/10/2025] - Vendor replied the following GitHub issue already
solves the issue: https://github.com/pkp/pkp-lib/issues/7649
[25/10/2025] - Response sent to the vendor, stating this should be
treated as a new, different issue
[12/11/2025] - CVE identifier requested
[12/12/2025] - CVE identifier assigned
[23/12/2025] - Publication of this advisory
[-] CVE Reference:
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program (cve.org) has
assigned the name CVE-2025-67891 to this vulnerability.
[-] Credits:
Vulnerability discovered by Egidio Romano.
[-] Original Advisory:
http://karmainsecurity.com/KIS-2025-13
PKP-WAL <= 3.5.0-3 (X-Forwarded-Host) LESS Code Injection Vulnerability
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[-] Software Links:
https://pkp.sfu.ca
https://github.com/pkp/pkp-lib
[-] Affected Versions:
PKP Web Application Library (aka PKP-WAL or pkp-lib) version 3.4.0-10
and prior versions, and version 3.5.0-3 and prior versions, as used in
Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), and Open
Preprint Systems (OPS).
[-] Vulnerability Description:
The vulnerability exists within the PKPTemplateManager::compileLess()
method, which will call the Less_Parser::parse() method passing to it
the "baseUrl" variable. Such a variable, which is constructed from a
call to the $request->getBaseUrl() method, can be manipulated by
unauthenticated attackers through the X-Forwarded-Host HTTP header,
and this can be exploited to perform LESS Code Injection attacks,
subsequently leading to SSRF or Local File Read attacks.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires the
allowed_hosts setting to be set to an empty string within the
config.inc.php script.
[-] Solution:
No official solution is currently available.
[-] Disclosure Timeline:
[21/10/2025] - Vendor notified
[24/10/2025] - Vendor replied the following GitHub issue already
solves the issue: https://github.com/pkp/pkp-lib/issues/7649
[25/10/2025] - Response sent to the vendor, stating this should be
treated as a new, different issue
[12/11/2025] - CVE identifier requested
[12/12/2025] - CVE identifier assigned
[23/12/2025] - Publication of this advisory
[-] CVE Reference:
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program (cve.org) has
assigned the name CVE-2025-67891 to this vulnerability.
[-] Credits:
Vulnerability discovered by Egidio Romano.
[-] Original Advisory:
http://karmainsecurity.com/KIS-2025-13