CVE Alert: CVE-2025-2776 – SysAid – SysAid On-Prem

Risk verdict

Critical risk; treat as priority 1 given active exploitation signals in the KEV and an automatable, unauthenticated exploit path.

Why this matters

An unauthenticated XML External Entity vulnerability enables administrator account takeover and file reading, threatening confidentiality and potential governance exposure. In on‑prem environments, a compromised admin session can cascade to other systems, disrupt IT service operations, and expose sensitive tickets and configuration data.

Most likely attack path

Remote attacker crafts an XML payload targeting the server URL processing component; no authentication or user interaction needed. If successful, read primitives and privilege escalation to admin could follow, with the scope expansion implying broader impact across the application and related services.

Who is most exposed

Organisations hosting the on‑premises IT service management server, especially where the management endpoints are internet‑reachable or inadequately segmented, exposing internal systems to the internet or weakly protected networks.

Detection ideas

• Anomalous XML requests to the server URL endpoint (DOCTYPE/ENTITY usage).
• Patterns indicating XML external entity attempts or large entity expansions.
• Logs showing file reads or access to sensitive paths.
• Unscheduled admin account activity or privilege changes.
• Unusual login activity from unfamiliar IPs targeting the admin interface.

Mitigation and prioritisation

• Apply the latest patch or update; treat as priority 1 due to KEV.
• If patching isn’t feasible, disable external entity processing or constrain it to trusted inputs.
• Network controls: restrict access to the server URL endpoint; deploy XXE‑specific WAF rules.
• Strengthen monitoring: alert on admin activity and critical config changes; verify backups and runbooks.