Critical Security Alerts: Navigating the Salesloft Data Breach and a Sitecore Zero-Day Vulnerability
In the fast-paced world of digital security, staying informed is your first line of defense. This week, two significant security events have put businesses on high alert, highlighting the critical importance of third-party vendor security and timely software patching. A security incident at Salesloft, triggered by a breach at a vendor, and a critical zero-day vulnerability in the popular Sitecore platform serve as powerful reminders that cyber threats can emerge from any direction.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened, who is affected, and the crucial steps you need to take to protect your organization.
The Salesloft Breach: A Lesson in Third-Party Risk
The sales engagement platform Salesloft recently disclosed a security incident that originated not from a direct attack on its own systems, but from a compromise at one of its third-party vendors, the conversational marketing tool Drift.
This incident is a classic example of a digital supply chain risk, where a vulnerability in one company’s security creates a domino effect for its partners and customers.
What Happened?
According to reports, an unauthorized actor gained access to Drift’s systems, which in turn exposed data from companies that use Drift’s services on their websites, including Salesloft. The breach specifically impacted information collected through the chat functionality on Salesloft’s public-facing website.
What Data Was Exposed?
The exposed data was limited to information provided by individuals during interactions with the website’s chat feature. This may include:
- Names
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Job titles and company names
It is crucial to understand that Salesloft has confirmed its core platform and primary customer data were not compromised in this incident. The breach was contained to the data processed by the third-party tool on its marketing site. In response, Salesloft promptly disabled the integration with the affected vendor to prevent any further exposure.
Actionable Security Tip: Vet Your Vendors
This breach underscores a vital security principle: your organization’s security is only as strong as its weakest link. Businesses must continuously evaluate the security posture of all third-party vendors that have access to any company or customer data. Establish a thorough vetting process and regularly review vendor security certifications and incident response plans.
Urgent Patch Required: Sitecore Zero-Day Vulnerability (CVE-2023-35813)
Separately, a critical security flaw has been discovered in Sitecore, a leading content management system (CMS) and digital experience platform used by thousands of organizations worldwide.
This is a “zero-day” vulnerability, meaning it was actively exploited by attackers before an official patch was made available, making it particularly dangerous.
What is the Vulnerability?
Tracked as CVE-2023-35813, the vulnerability allows for Remote Code Execution (RCE). In simple terms, this flaw could permit an unauthenticated attacker to remotely run malicious code on a vulnerable Sitecore server. An RCE vulnerability is one of the most severe types of security flaws, as it can lead to a complete system takeover, data theft, or the deployment of ransomware.
Who is at Risk?
The vulnerability affects several self-hosted versions of Sitecore’s products. Organizations using the following are urged to take immediate action:
- Sitecore Experience Manager (XM)
- Sitecore Experience Platform (XP)
- Sitecore Experience Commerce (XC)
Fortunately, not all Sitecore customers are exposed. Customers using Sitecore Managed Cloud or the cloud-native XM Cloud are already protected. Sitecore has proactively applied the necessary security patches to these environments, mitigating the risk for those users.
What You Need To Do Now
For any organization running a self-hosted Sitecore instance, this is a time-critical issue.
Applying the latest security patch should be your top priority. Ignoring this vulnerability leaves your web environment exposed to active and severe threats. The necessary patch and detailed instructions are available from Sitecore’s official security bulletin. We strongly advise system administrators to review the bulletin and deploy the fix without delay.
Actionable Security Tip: Prioritize Patch Management
A robust and timely patch management program is non-negotiable for modern cybersecurity. When a critical vulnerability is announced, especially a zero-day, speed is essential. Automate your scanning and patching processes where possible, and ensure your IT and security teams have a clear, rapid-response plan for deploying emergency security updates.
Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/09/07/week-in-review-several-companies-affected-by-the-salesloft-drift-breach-sitecore-0-day-vulnerability/
