CVE-2025-7065: Widzialni PAD CMS RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-7065 Overview

CVE-2025-7065 is a critical unrestricted file upload vulnerability in Widzialni PAD CMS that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to upload arbitrary files through the photo upload functionality. The vulnerability stems from a client-controlled permission check parameter, enabling attackers to bypass security controls and upload files of any type and extension without restriction. Once uploaded, these malicious files can be executed on the server, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE).

This vulnerability affects all three PAD CMS templates: www, bip, and ww+bip. Critically, this product has reached End-Of-Life status, and the vendor has confirmed they will not publish patches for this vulnerability.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can achieve full Remote Code Execution by uploading and executing arbitrary files, potentially leading to complete server compromise, data theft, and lateral movement within affected networks.

Affected Products

• Widzialni PAD CMS (all versions)
• PAD CMS www template
• PAD CMS bip template
• PAD CMS ww+bip template

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-09-30 - CVE-2025-7065 published to NVD
• 2025-11-26 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-7065

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type). The core issue lies in PAD CMS's photo upload functionality, which relies on a client-controlled parameter to perform permission checks. Since clients can manipulate this parameter, the security validation can be completely bypassed, allowing unauthenticated users to upload files without any restriction on file type or extension.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability combined with no required user interaction and no authentication requirements makes it trivially exploitable. Attackers can craft requests to the vulnerable upload endpoint, manipulate the permission check parameter to bypass security controls, and upload malicious executable files such as PHP web shells or other server-side scripts.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-7065 is the trust placed in client-provided data for security-critical permission decisions. The application's permission check mechanism relies on a parameter that can be manipulated by the client, violating the fundamental security principle of never trusting client input for authorization decisions. This design flaw means that server-side validation is either absent or can be bypassed by controlling the permission check parameter value.

Additionally, the application lacks proper file type validation, file extension whitelisting, and content-type verification on the server side, allowing any file type to be accepted and stored in an executable location.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2025-7065 is network-based and requires no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by:

1. Identifying the vulnerable photo upload endpoint in PAD CMS
2. Crafting an HTTP request with a manipulated permission check parameter to bypass authentication
3. Including a malicious file payload (such as a PHP web shell) in the upload request
4. Submitting the request to upload the malicious file to the server
5. Accessing the uploaded file directly to trigger execution and achieve RCE

The exploitation does not require any special privileges or complex attack chains. Once the malicious file is uploaded and executed, the attacker gains the ability to run arbitrary commands on the server with the permissions of the web server process, potentially leading to full system compromise, data exfiltration, or use of the compromised server as a pivot point for further attacks.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-7065

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected files with executable extensions (.php, .phtml, .asp, .aspx, .jsp) appearing in upload directories
• Web server logs showing requests to the photo upload endpoint from unexpected sources or with unusual parameters
• Newly created files in web-accessible directories that were not uploaded through normal administrative processes
• Outbound network connections or unusual process spawning from the web server process

Detection Strategies

• Monitor file system changes in PAD CMS upload directories for creation of files with executable extensions
• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block attempts to upload files with dangerous extensions
• Review web server access logs for suspicious POST requests to the photo upload functionality with manipulated parameters
• Deploy file integrity monitoring (FIM) solutions to alert on unauthorized file creation in web directories

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for all file upload operations within PAD CMS
• Configure alerts for any new executable files created in web-accessible directories
• Monitor for web shell signatures and behaviors such as command execution patterns or unusual outbound traffic
• Implement network-level monitoring for connections from web servers to internal resources that may indicate lateral movement

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-7065

Immediate Actions Required

• Take PAD CMS installations offline immediately or restrict network access to the application
• Perform a thorough audit of all upload directories for suspicious or unauthorized files
• Review server logs for evidence of exploitation attempts or successful compromise
• Plan migration to a supported content management system as the vendor will not release patches

Patch Information

No patch is available for this vulnerability. The vendor, Widzialni, has declared PAD CMS as End-Of-Life and has confirmed they will not publish patches to address CVE-2025-7065. Organizations using PAD CMS must migrate to an alternative, actively maintained content management system to remediate this vulnerability.

For additional technical details, refer to the CERT Poland security analysis.

Workarounds

• Disable or remove the photo upload functionality entirely if not business-critical
• Implement strict network-level access controls (firewall rules, IP whitelisting) to limit who can reach the PAD CMS instance
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with rules to block file uploads containing executable content or dangerous extensions
• Configure the web server to prevent execution of uploaded files by removing execute permissions or serving upload directories as static content only
• Migrate to an actively supported CMS platform as the only long-term solution

# Example: Disable PHP execution in upload directories (Apache)
# Add to .htaccess in the PAD CMS upload directory
<FilesMatch "\.(php|phtml|php3|php4|php5|php7|phps|phar)$">
    Require all denied
</FilesMatch>

# Example: Nginx configuration to prevent execution
# Add to server block configuration
location ~* /uploads/.*\.(php|phtml|php3|php4|php5|php7|phps|phar)$ {
    deny all;
    return 403;
}