CVE-2025-47777: 5ire Desktop AI Assistant RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-47777 Overview

CVE-2025-47777 is a critical vulnerability affecting 5ire, a cross-platform desktop artificial intelligence assistant and Model Context Protocol (MCP) client built on Electron. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 0.11.1 and stems from insufficient sanitization of chatbot responses, enabling stored cross-site scripting (XSS). This XSS vulnerability can be chained with unsafe Electron protocol handling and exposed Electron APIs to achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) on the victim's system.

Critical Impact

Attackers can execute arbitrary code on affected systems by injecting malicious scripts through chatbot responses, potentially leading to complete system compromise for users interacting with untrusted chatbots or pasting external content.

Affected Products

• 5ire desktop client versions prior to 0.11.1
• All platforms supported by 5ire (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Users interacting with untrusted chatbots or pasting external content

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-14 - CVE-2025-47777 published to NVD
• 2025-01-22 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-47777

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a dangerous chain of weaknesses that escalates from client-side injection to full system compromise. The 5ire application renders chatbot responses without adequate HTML sanitization, allowing malicious scripts embedded in AI responses to execute within the Electron renderer process. Since Electron applications combine web technologies with native system access, this XSS vulnerability becomes significantly more dangerous than traditional browser-based XSS.

The exposed Electron APIs, particularly the shell.openExternal() function accessible via IPC handlers, enable attackers to leverage the XSS to invoke arbitrary protocols. Without proper protocol validation, malicious payloads can abuse custom protocol handlers or system protocols to achieve code execution.

Root Cause

The root cause is classified under CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation). The application failed to sanitize HTML content rendered from chatbot responses before displaying them in the Electron renderer. Additionally, the open-external IPC handler lacked protocol validation, allowing any URL scheme to be passed to the operating system's default handler without restrictions.

Attack Vector

The attack requires network access and user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious chatbot responses containing embedded JavaScript that executes when the victim views the chat. The injected script can then call the exposed open-external IPC handler with malicious protocol URLs, bypassing same-origin restrictions due to Electron's architecture and potentially executing arbitrary commands via custom protocol handlers.

// Vulnerable code - src/main/main.ts (before patch)
// Source: https://github.com/nanbingxyz/5ire/commit/56601e012095194a4be0d4cb6da6b5b3cb53dea8

ipcMain.handle('open-external', (_, data) => {
  shell.openExternal(data);
});

// Patched code - validates URL protocol before opening
ipcMain.handle('open-external', (_, url) => {
  try {
    const parsedUrl = new URL(url);
    const allowedProtocols = ['http:', 'https:', 'mailto:'];
    if (!allowedProtocols.includes(parsedUrl.protocol)) {
      console.warn(`Blocked unsafe protocol: ${parsedUrl.protocol}`);
      return;
    }
    shell.openExternal(url);
  } catch (e) {
    console.warn('Invalid URL:', url);
  }
});

The patch also introduces DOMPurify for HTML sanitization in the markdown rendering hook:

// Security patch in src/hooks/useMarkdown.ts
// Source: https://github.com/nanbingxyz/5ire/commit/56601e012095194a4be0d4cb6da6b5b3cb53dea8

import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
+import DOMPurify from 'dompurify';
// @ts-ignore
import MarkdownIt from 'markdown-it';

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47777

Indicators of Compromise

• Presence of suspicious JavaScript payloads in chat history or logs containing shell.openExternal, ipcRenderer, or similar Electron API calls
• Unexpected external protocol invocations from the 5ire application process
• Unusual child processes spawned by the 5ire Electron application
• Network connections to untrusted external domains initiated from the 5ire process

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Electron application IPC calls, specifically watching for open-external invocations with non-standard protocols
• Implement endpoint detection rules to alert on 5ire processes spawning unexpected child processes or making unusual system calls
• Analyze chat logs for embedded HTML/JavaScript artifacts that could indicate XSS injection attempts
• Deploy browser/Electron process monitoring to detect attempts to access sensitive Electron APIs from renderer contexts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for the 5ire application to capture all external URL open requests
• Configure SentinelOne to monitor for process chains originating from Electron-based applications that exhibit anomalous behavior
• Implement network traffic analysis to detect unusual outbound connections from the 5ire application
• Review and audit any chatbot interactions from untrusted or external sources

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47777

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade 5ire to version 0.11.1 or later immediately
• Avoid interacting with untrusted chatbots or pasting content from unknown external sources until patched
• Review chat history for any suspicious content that may have been injected
• Consider restricting network access for the 5ire application until the update is applied

Patch Information

The vulnerability has been addressed in 5ire version 0.11.1. The patch implements two key security controls:

1. DOMPurify Integration: HTML content from chatbot responses is now sanitized using DOMPurify before rendering, preventing script injection
2. Protocol Allowlisting: The open-external IPC handler now validates URLs against an allowlist of safe protocols (http:, https:, mailto:), blocking potentially dangerous custom protocol handlers

For detailed patch information, refer to the GitHub Security Advisory and the commit implementing the fix.

Workarounds

• If unable to update immediately, avoid using 5ire with untrusted AI models or chatbots
• Do not paste content from external sources into the 5ire chat interface
• Consider running 5ire in an isolated environment or sandbox until the patch can be applied
• For enterprise deployments, temporarily restrict access to the 5ire application until all instances are updated

# Verify installed 5ire version
# Check package.json or application info
cat /path/to/5ire/package.json | grep version

# Update to patched version
npm update 5ire@0.11.1
# Or download latest release from official repository