CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-32985 — Apereo Xerte Online Toolkits security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8

Xerte Online Toolkits versions 3.14 and earlier contain an unauthenticated arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the template import functionality that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by uploading a crafted ZIP archive containing malicious PHP payloads. Attackers can bypass authentication checks in the import.php file to upload a template archive with PHP code in the media directory, which gets extracted to a web-accessible path where the malicious PHP can be directly accessed and executed under the web server context.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2026-03-20
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-306, CWE-434

Affected products

  • apereo / xerte_online_toolkits

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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