CVE-2025-3248: Critical Code Injection Vulnerability in Langflow versions prior to 1.3.0

Overview

This blog post will dive deep into the analysis of a critical security vulnerability, CVE-2025-3248, that affects Langflow versions prior to 1.3.0. This vulnerability pertains to code injection, which can lead to severe implications for organizations utilizing these versions of Langflow. It is a significant security issue because a successfully exploited system can lead to system compromise or data leakage, potentially exposing sensitive information.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-3248
Severity: Critical (9.8 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Langflow | Versions prior to 1.3.0

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability occurs due to inadequate input validation in the /api/v1/validate/code endpoint. This allows an attacker to inject malicious code via specially crafted HTTP requests. The server processes these requests without proper sanitization, leading to the execution of the inserted malicious code. As the attacker does not require any form of authentication to exploit this vulnerability, it poses a severe risk to the affected systems.

Conceptual Example Code

Here is a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. The attacker sends a crafted POST request to the /api/v1/validate/code endpoint containing the malicious code in the request body:

POST /api/v1/validate/code HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "code": "malicious_code_here" }

Upon receiving this request, the vulnerable server executes the malicious code, leading to potential system compromise or data leakage.

Mitigation Guidance

It is highly advised to update to Langflow version 1.3.0 or later, as these versions contain a patch to this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can offer temporary mitigation by detecting and blocking crafted HTTP requests. However, these are only temporary solutions, and patching should be performed as soon as possible to prevent potential exploitation.