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In a recent and alarming disclosure, researchers have revealed a chain of four critical vulnerabilities in SysAid’s on-premise ITSM platform, allowing unauthenticated attackers to achieve full Remote Code Execution (RCE) with SYSTEM privileges on Windows servers. These vulnerabilities, catalogued under CVE-2025-2775 through CVE-2025-2778, pose a grave threat to IT infrastructure where SysAid is deployed, especially in organizations that rely on self-hosted instances and have yet to implement security patches.
Understanding the Threat Landscape
SysAid is a widely used IT Service Management tool, especially among enterprises that prefer to self-host critical operations. This flexibility, however, comes with increased responsibility for system security. The flaws uncovered by security researchers from watchTowr Labs expose a gaping vulnerability in SysAid’s architecture — one that can be weaponized to gain the highest level of access on Windows systems.
Unlike attacks that require internal access or elevated privileges, these flaws — three XML External Entity (XXE) injection bugs and a post-authentication OS Command Injection — can be exploited in a chain by remote attackers without initial access to the system. If left unpatched, this could lead to the theft of admin credentials, remote access to sensitive files, and even full command execution on the host server.
How the Exploit Chain Unfolds
Scope of Impact: The vulnerabilities affect SysAid’s on-premise versions up to 23.3.40. The cloud-based SaaS version is not affected.
Entry Point – XXE Vulnerabilities:
CVE-2025-2775: An XXE flaw in the /mdm/checkin endpoint allows unsanitized XML input.
CVE-2025-2776: A similar XXE issue in the /mdm/serverurl path.
CVE-2025-2777: Another XXE found in /lshw, using SAX parsing without validation.
Initial Payloads: Attackers can send malicious XML that loads attacker-hosted DTDs, causing the server to process unintended content, leak internal files, or probe internal networks.
Admin Credential Leak: These XXE attacks can expose the InitAccount.cmd file, which contains plaintext admin usernames and passwords used during initial setup.
Privilege Escalation: With credentials in hand, attackers can log in and exploit CVE-2025-2778, an OS command injection in the API update feature.
Final Blow – RCE with SYSTEM Privileges: A crafted request injects shell commands via javaLocation, writing to a batch file that the system executes, giving full control to the attacker.
What Undercode Say:
This is a textbook example of why organizations must continuously audit, patch, and monitor all critical IT assets — especially those that are publicly accessible and manage essential infrastructure. SysAid’s case highlights a high-value, low-effort target for attackers.
First, the fact that three out of four vulnerabilities are pre-authentication means no credentials are required to begin exploitation. This drastically widens the attack surface, especially if the server is accessible over the internet.
Secondly, XXE vulnerabilities, often considered less dangerous, show how devastating they can be when chained creatively. In this case, they serve as a stepping stone to extract sensitive credentials, acting as a key to unlock more dangerous flaws downstream.
Then comes CVE-2025-2778, the OS command injection — a vulnerability that turns configuration parameters into command-line entry points. With SYSTEM-level execution on Windows, attackers can install malware, exfiltrate data, or pivot deeper into corporate networks.
One should also consider the psychological aspect of such vulnerabilities: a feeling of false security that arises when tools like SysAid are installed behind VPNs or firewalls, while forgetting that they may still be accessible due to misconfigurations or exposed endpoints.
From an operational security standpoint, this disclosure should trigger immediate incident response:
Conduct forensic checks for suspicious POST requests targeting vulnerable endpoints.
Review admin accounts and login logs for any anomalous activity.
Isolate any vulnerable instances from external access immediately.
Moreover, organizations must evaluate their patch management strategy. Waiting for quarterly updates or deferring patches due to business operations is no longer viable. These bugs prove that any delay in securing exposed systems creates a direct path for attackers to walk in and take over.
Security teams must also take this opportunity to assess whether relying on on-premise solutions is still the best model for their needs. While SaaS platforms are not immune to bugs, they often receive patches automatically and faster.
Finally, the ease of exploiting these vulnerabilities — described as trivial — makes them likely to be added to automated exploit frameworks soon, if they haven’t already.
Fact Checker Results
All CVEs listed (CVE-2025-2775 to CVE-2025-2778) have been officially disclosed and assigned.
The attack chain has been verified and successfully demonstrated in controlled environments.
SysAid has released patches in version 24.4.60 b16, confirming the vulnerabilities’ authenticity and impact.
Prediction
Given the critical nature and exploitability of these vulnerabilities, it is highly likely that SysAid instances running outdated versions will become active targets in the coming months. We expect to see exploitation attempts in the wild, integration into penetration testing tools, and possibly ransomware groups leveraging this chain for initial access. Organizations slow to update may face data breaches, operational downtime, or full system compromise. Patching alone isn’t enough — a holistic review of access control, logging, and system exposure is urgently needed.
References:
Reported By: cyberpress.org
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