CVE-2025-20368
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 · uneditedIn Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.4.4, 9.3.6, and 9.2.8, and Splunk Cloud Platform versions below 9.3.2411.108, 9.3.2408.118 and 9.2.2406.123, a low privileged user that does not hold the admin or power Splunk roles could craft a malicious payload through the error messages and job inspection details of a saved search. This could result in execution of unauthorized JavaScript code in the browser of a user.
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 confidenceA stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Splunk Enterprise and Cloud Platform allows low-privileged users (non-admin, non-power roles) to inject malicious JavaScript payloads through crafted saved search error messages and job inspection details. When other users view these details, the embedded JavaScript executes in their browsers.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 9.2.0, < 9.2.8>= 9.3.0, < 9.3.6>= 9.4.0, < 9.4.4>= 9.2.2406, < 9.2.2406.123>= 9.3.2408, < 9.3.2408.118>= 9.3.2411, < 9.3.2411.108CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Splunk Enterprise versionRun 'splunk version' from the Splunk bin directory or check the About page in the Splunk web interfaceAffected if Version is >= 9.2.0 and < 9.2.8, or >= 9.3.0 and < 9.3.6, or >= 9.4.0 and < 9.4.4
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Check installed Splunk Cloud Platform versionNavigate to Settings > About in Splunk Cloud web interface or check version information from cloud administration consoleAffected if Version is >= 9.2.2406 and < 9.2.2406.123, or >= 9.3.2408 and < 9.3.2408.118, or >= 9.3.2411 and < 9.3.2411.108
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Identify low-privileged user accountsReview user roles in Settings > Users and Authentication > Users to confirm presence of non-admin, non-power role accounts that could be potential attackersAffected if Environment contains users with roles other than admin or power
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Examine saved search error messages for suspicious contentReview saved searches using the UI (Apps > Search > Saved Searches) or CLI to inspect error message fields for encoded or unusual script contentAffected if Saved searches contain unexpected HTML, JavaScript, or encoded characters in error message fields that could represent injected payloads
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Inspect job inspection details for malicious scriptsReview recent search jobs through the Job inspector (Activity > Jobs) or by querying the _internal index for job details, looking for unusual script tags or event handlers in job metadataAffected if Job inspection details contain executable JavaScript or event handler attributes that could trigger in other users browsers
Your Splunk instance is affected if it runs an affected version listed above AND contains low-privileged users who could inject payloads through saved search error messages or job details that other users then view.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scoped9.2.89.2.2406.1239.3.6
Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to versions 9.4.4, 9.3.6, or 9.2.8 (or later); upgrade Splunk Cloud Platform to versions 9.3.2411.108, 9.3.2408.118, or 9.2.2406.123 (or later). Apply output encoding for error messages and job inspection details as a compensating control if immediate upgrade is not feasible.
Splunk Enterprise: 9.4.4, 9.3.6, or 9.2.8 (minimum); Splunk Cloud Platform: 9.2.2406.123, 9.3.2408.118, or 9.3.2411.108
- Identify your current Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud Platform version by checking About > Version in the Splunk UI or running 'splunk version' from CLI
- For Splunk Enterprise: Upgrade to version 9.4.4 (if on 9.4.x), 9.3.6 (if on 9.3.x), or 9.2.8 (if on 9.2.x)
- For Splunk Cloud Platform: Contact Splunk Support to request upgrade to 9.2.2406.123, 9.3.2408.118, or 9.3.2411.108 depending on your current release track
- Before upgrading Splunk Enterprise in production, test the upgrade in a non-production environment to verify compatibility with your custom apps and configurations
- Backup your Splunk configuration (app configurations, saved searches, and deployment artifacts) before initiating the upgrade
- After upgrade, verify that the fix is applied by attempting to reproduce the XSS condition using the saved search error message or job inspection details
- Confirm normal Splunk functionality including saved searches, alerts, and dashboard rendering
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20368 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-20368 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data