Security Resilience

CVE-2023-25261

RCE in Stimulsoft Designer 2023.1 … 2023.1.4

Published
27 March 2023
Modified
09 July 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.019 79th percentile
Risk Priority 81 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-25261 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Stimulsoft Designer. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 21% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2023-25261 is a remote code execution vulnerability affecting Stimulsoft Designer (Desktop) 2023.1.4, Stimulsoft Designer (Web) 2023.1.3, and Stimulsoft Viewer (Web) 2023.1.3. The root cause is unrestricted access to the local file system, which permits an attacker to embed source code capable of reading or writing arbitrary directories and files; a malicious report can also store gathered data in a variable and render it during report generation. The flaw is tracked under CWE-94 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.

An unauthenticated attacker with network access can exploit the issue without user interaction by supplying a crafted report that executes arbitrary code, reads or writes local files, and exfiltrates data, resulting in complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the affected system. The EPSS score has remained flat at 0.1140 with no material increase since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Certain Stimulsoft GmbH products are affected by: Remote Code Execution. This affects Stimulsoft Designer (Desktop) 2023.1.4 and Stimulsoft Designer (Web) 2023.1.3 and Stimulsoft Viewer (Web) 2023.1.3. Access to the local file system is not prohibited in any way. Therefore, an…

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attacker may include source code which reads or writes local directories and files. It is also possible for the attacker to prepare a report which has a variable that holds the gathered data and render it in the report.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-24396Same vendor: Stimulsoft
CVE-2025-0060Shared CWE-94
CVE-2019-0193Shared CWE-94
CVE-2024-6936Shared CWE-94
CVE-2024-55504Shared CWE-94
CVE-2025-55313Shared CWE-94
CVE-2024-45198Shared CWE-94
CVE-2026-18287Shared CWE-94
CVE-2026-14560Shared CWE-94
CVE-2025-7958Shared CWE-94

Affected Assets

stimulsoft
designer
2023.1, 2023.1.3, 2023.1.4
stimulsoft
viewer
2023.1.3, 2023.1.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

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Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

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Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-94

Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.

addresses: CWE-94

Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.

addresses: CWE-94

Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.

addresses: CWE-94

Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
blocks

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

References