CVE-2025-68619
Published: 01 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2025-68619 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Signalk Signal K Server. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 18.7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 CM-11 (User-installed Software) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-68619 is a code injection vulnerability (CWE-94) in Signal K Server, an application that runs on a central hub in boats. Versions prior to 2.19.0 in the appstore interface expose a REST API endpoint that allows administrators to install npm packages. The endpoint validates that the package name exists in the npm registry as a known plugin or webapp, but the version parameter accepts arbitrary npm version specifiers, including URLs to git repositories, GitHub shorthand syntax, and HTTP/HTTPS tarballs. When npm installs such a package, it can automatically execute any postinstall script defined in package.json, enabling arbitrary code execution. The Signal K code passes the version parameter directly to npm without sanitization, with a CVSS score of 7.2 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
An attacker with administrative privileges (PR:H) can exploit this vulnerability over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). By supplying a malicious version specifier pointing to an attacker-controlled package source containing a postinstall script, the attacker triggers arbitrary code execution on the server. This results in high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) within the same security scope (S:U).
Signal K Server version 2.19.0 patches the issue by addressing the unsanitized version parameter handling. Additional details are available in the security advisory at https://github.com/SignalK/signalk-server/security/advisories/GHSA-93jc-vqqc-vvvh and the release notes at https://github.com/SignalK/signalk-server/releases/tag/v2.19.0.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-206137
Vulnerability details
Signal K Server is a server application that runs on a central hub in a boat. Versions prior to 2.19.0 of the appstore interface allow administrators to install npm packages through a REST API endpoint. While the endpoint validates that…
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the package name exists in the npm registry as a known plugin or webapp, the version parameter accepts arbitrary npm version specifiers including URLs. npm supports installing packages from git repositories, GitHub shorthand syntax, and HTTP/HTTPS URLs pointing to tarballs. When npm installs a package, it can automatically execute any `postinstall` script defined in `package.json`, enabling arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability exists because npm's version specifier syntax is extremely flexible, and the SignalK code passes the version parameter directly to npm without sanitization. An attacker with admin access can install a package from an attacker-controlled source containing a malicious `postinstall` script. Version 2.19.0 contains a patch for the issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct remote code execution via unsanitized input to a network-exposed REST API endpoint in server software, matching exploitation of public-facing applications.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires validation and sanitization of the version parameter before it is passed to npm, blocking arbitrary git/URL specifiers that trigger postinstall code execution.
Explicitly governs installation of software packages through the appstore REST endpoint and can prohibit or whitelist only vetted local sources instead of arbitrary remote tarballs.
Requires cryptographic verification of software integrity and authenticity prior to npm installation, which would detect or reject packages fetched from attacker-controlled URLs.