dbcve.org
MetazoApplication · Ipwsystems

CVE-2025-46661

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.1.13 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
IPW Systems Metazo through 8.1.3 allows unauthenticated Remote Code Execution because smartyValidator.php enables the attacker to provide template expressions, aka Server-Side Template-Injection. All instances have been patched by the Supplier.

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

IPW Systems Metazo through 8.1.3 contains a Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) vulnerability in smartyValidator.php that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject and execute arbitrary Smarty template expressions, resulting in complete remote code execution on the affected server.

MitigationApply the supplier-supplied patch immediately to all Metazo instances and verify the patched version is correctly installed. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to the application as a temporary compensating control.

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
MetazoApplication
Affected:<= 8.1.13

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Determine installed Metazo version
    Locate the Metazo installation directory and check version.php, version.txt, or the administrative interface for the current version number
    Affected if Version is 8.1.13 or lower (<= 8.1.13)
  2. Locate smartyValidator.php file
    Search the web root and application directories for the file smartyValidator.php using file system search or grep commands
    Affected if smartyValidator.php exists in the Metazo installation
  3. Verify smartyValidator.php is web-accessible
    Attempt to access smartyValidator.php via HTTP/HTTPS request (e.g., curl or browser request to the full URL path)
    Affected if The file returns an HTTP response instead of a 404 error, indicating it is web-exposed
  4. Confirm no authentication is required for the endpoint
    Test accessing the smartyValidator.php URL without providing any login credentials or session cookies
    Affected if The endpoint responds without redirecting to a login page or requiring authentication

You are affected if Metazo version is 8.1.13 or lower AND the smartyValidator.php file is present and web-accessible without authentication.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.1.13
Interim mitigation

Apply the supplier-supplied patch immediately to all Metazo instances and verify the patched version is correctly installed. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to the application as a temporary compensating control.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest stable version beyond 8.1.13 (contact IPW Systems for specific patched release)

  1. 1. Identify the current Metazo installation version by checking the application or system documentation
  2. 2. Contact IPW Systems directly or check their official channels for the latest patched version beyond 8.1.13
  3. 3. Before upgrading, perform a complete backup of the Metazo application, database, and configuration files
  4. 4. Review the upgrade documentation provided by IPW Systems for any specific migration requirements
  5. 5. Execute the upgrade process according to IPW Systems' official instructions
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify the smartyValidator.php file has been updated and no longer accepts unsanitized template expressions
  7. 7. Test that the application functions correctly post-upgrade
  8. 8. Verify the fix by confirming unauthenticated users can no longer inject Smarty template expressions
Caveat Review IPW Systems release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and the new version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Metazo Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

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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-2025-46661 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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