Executive brief
HAX CMS is a content management system used by Penn State University to host academic and departmental websites. An unauthenticated API endpoint exposes the complete list of all PSU websites hosted on the platform to any user with access to the URL, revealing institutional infrastructure and enabling enumeration attacks. When combined with authorization flaws in other API endpoints, attackers could modify, delete, or compromise hundreds of institutional sites.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an information disclosure (CWE-201) in the haxPsuUsage API endpoint at https://open-apis.hax.cloud/api/services/stats/haxPsuUsage. The endpoint in haxPsuUsage.js lacks authentication and authorization checks, allowing any unauthenticated remote user to enumerate all websites on the PSU HAX CMS instance via a simple GET request. This endpoint was apparently intended for internal statistical purposes but is now publicly accessible. When chained with authorization bypasses in other API endpoints (createNode, saveNode, deleteNode, getConfig, downloadSite, cloneSite, deleteSite, archiveSite), an attacker can escalate from enumeration to full compromise of any site, including content modification, deletion, and credential access. A patch was released on June 2, 2025.
Affected products
- HAX open-apis < 10.0.2 (all versions prior to June 2, 2025 patch)
Timeline
- 2025-06-02: disclosed: GHSA-fvx2-x7ff-fc56 published
- 2025-06-02: patched: Fix deployed via commit 06c2e1fbb7131a8fe66aa0600f38dcacae6b7ac7