CISA Orders Federal Agencies to Patch Critical Sitecore Vulnerability Following Hacking Reports

Federal civilian agencies have been given a tight deadline to address a serious vulnerability in the popular content management system Sitecore, following reports of recent hacking attempts that took advantage of the bug.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a bulletin advising federal agencies to patch the CVE-2025-53690 vulnerability as soon as possible. This critical flaw affects several Sitecore products, and incident responders have already disrupted a recent attack involving the bug.

According to Sitecore, the vulnerability lies in the use of a sample machine key that was included in deployment guides from 2017 and earlier. The issue arises when customers simply used this pre-generated machine key without rotating it to a new one, leaving their systems exposed to potential exploitation.

Mandiant, a leading cybersecurity firm, recently reported that they had stopped an attack where hackers leveraged the exposed sample machine key to gain unauthorized access to compromised systems. This highlights the severity of the vulnerability and the need for swift action to patch it.

Federal agencies have until September 25 to address this critical vulnerability and ensure their Sitecore systems are secure. The CISA bulletin serves as a reminder that cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility, and timely patching can prevent significant disruptions and data breaches.

The incident highlights the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest security patches and best practices for managing software vulnerabilities. By taking proactive steps to address this critical flaw, federal agencies can protect themselves from potential attacks and maintain the integrity of their sensitive information.