dbcve.org
HorillaApplication

CVE-2025-59832

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.4.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable 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
Horilla is a free and open source Human Resource Management System (HRMS). Prior to version 1.4.0, there is a stored XSS vulnerability in the ticket comment editor. A low-privilege authenticated user could run arbitrary JavaScript in an admin’s browser, exfiltrate the admin’s cookies/CSRF token, and hijack their session. This issue has been patched in version 1.4.0.

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

A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in Horilla HRMS ticket comment editor allowing low-privilege authenticated users to inject malicious JavaScript. When administrators view these crafted comments, the embedded scripts execute, enabling exfiltration of session cookies and CSRF tokens for admin session hijacking.

MitigationUpgrade to Horilla HRMS version 1.4.0 or later which contains the patch. Until upgrade is possible, restrict or disable ticket comment functionality for low-privilege users.

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
HorillaApplication
Affected:< 1.4.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

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

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 Horilla version
    Access the Horilla admin panel and navigate to Settings > About, or check the version file in the application root (version.py, __init__.py, or package.json)
    Affected if The installed version is any version prior to 1.4.0
  2. Verify ticket module is active
    Check the Horilla dashboard for the Tickets/Support Tickets module, or inspect the INSTALLED_APPS setting in the Django settings file to confirm the tickets app is included
    Affected if The ticket module is installed and enabled in the application
  3. Confirm low-privilege user access to ticket comments
    Log in as a low-privilege (non-admin) user, navigate to the Tickets section, open an existing ticket, and verify the comment editor/input field is accessible and functional
    Affected if Users with basic/low privileges can access and submit ticket comments
  4. Inspect existing ticket comments for malicious payloads
    As an administrator, view the ticket comments list in the admin panel or ticket detail view, then search the comment database table (or use grep on exported data) for patterns like <script, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, or event handlers
    Affected if Any ticket comments contain script tags, javascript: URIs, or HTML event attributes (onclick, onerror, etc.)

You are affected if your Horilla version is below 1.4.0 AND the ticket module is enabled AND low-privilege users can post comments, especially if existing comments contain suspicious script or event-handler content.

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 1.4.0 or later
Fixed in 1.4.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Horilla HRMS version 1.4.0 or later which contains the patch. Until upgrade is possible, restrict or disable ticket comment functionality for low-privilege users.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.4.0

  1. Verify current Horilla installation version by checking the installed package or application footer
  2. Backup the current database and application files before proceeding with the upgrade
  3. Upgrade Horilla to version 1.4.0 using the appropriate package manager (e.g., pip install horilla==1.4.0 or the project's specific upgrade method)
  4. Run database migrations if required by the new version (e.g., python manage.py migrate)
  5. Clear any cached application data or static files if necessary
  6. Restart the application server to load the updated version
  7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version number in the application
  8. Test that the ticket comment editor now properly sanitizes input and prevents XSS execution

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

Fix this in Horilla Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-59832 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-59832 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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