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Improper Input ValidationWeakness · CWE-20

CVE-2025-0248

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
88/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
HCL iNotes is susceptible to a Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability caused by improper validation of user-supplied input. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can specially craft a URL to execute script in a victim's Web browser within the security context of the hosting Web site and/or steal the victim's cookie-based authentication credentials.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

HCL iNotes contains a reflected XSS vulnerability due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An unauthenticated remote attacker can craft malicious URLs that inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript in victims' browsers within the security context of the hosting site, enabling cookie-based session hijacking.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches for HCL iNotes when available. Implement proper input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data, and consider deploying Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate XSS execution.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm HCL iNotes installation and version
    Locate the iNotes installation directory or check the Domino server console for iNotes version information using 'show server' or by examining the installed packages. Compare the installed version to any HCL iNotes releases available in your environment.
    Affected if HCL iNotes is installed and running but the version has not been patched to include the CVE-2025-0248 fix.
  2. Verify iNotes web interface is accessible
    Attempt to access the HCL iNotes web portal (typically at /iNotes/ or /names.nsf) through the Domino HTTP server. Confirm the server responds to HTTP/HTTPS requests.
    Affected if The iNotes web interface is exposed and accessible to users without additional authentication barriers.
  3. Inspect URL parameter handling in iNotes
    Review iNotes configuration files (notes.ini, iNotes_WA_Config settings) for how URL parameters are processed. Check if input validation is explicitly enabled for web-based parameters.
    Affected if The configuration lacks explicit input validation or output encoding settings for URL parameters in the iNotes web component.
  4. Check for Content Security Policy headers
    Send a request to the iNotes web portal and inspect the HTTP response headers for Content-Security-Policy or X-Content-Security-Policy headers. Use a browser developer tool or curl -I command.
    Affected if No CSP headers are present in HTTP responses from the iNotes server, leaving the application vulnerable to XSS execution.
  5. Review iNotes forms and views for parameter usage
    Examine iNotes database templates (mail*.ntf) for custom forms, views, or agents that accept URL parameters (query strings). Identify any that pass user-supplied input directly to web output without encoding.
    Affected if Custom or modified iNotes templates contain forms or agents that reflect URL parameters in web output without sanitization.

A defender is affected if HCL iNotes is running with an unpatched version and the web interface is accessible without CSP headers mitigating the reflected XSS.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-provided patches for HCL iNotes when available. Implement proper input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data, and consider deploying Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate XSS execution.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-0248 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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