Skip to main content

MediaWiki CommonsMetadata CVE-2026-103584

| EUVDEUVD-2026-90430 LOW
Basic XSS (CWE-80)
2026-09-30 wikimedia-foundation GHSA-v276-8895-8m7m
1.1
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: wikimedia-foundation
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain wiki edit rights
  2. Delivery
    Inject script payload into file metadata field
  3. Exploit
    CommonsMetadata renders unsanitized markup
  4. Execution
    Victim views file page
  5. Impact
    Script executes in victim browser session

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization HTML tag escaping
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Initial Access

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension (versions 1.43, 1.45, or 1.46) to be installed and enabled, plus the ability to write attacker-controlled content into file/media metadata that the extension parses and renders. The vendor vector indicates high privileges (PR:H), passive-then-active user interaction (UI:P), and an attack requirement (AT:P), meaning a privileged/authenticated editor must inject the payload and a victim must subsequently view the rendered page. Limiting factors: the extension is an optional add-on (not core MediaWiki), edit/authentication access is needed to plant the payload, victim page-view is required for execution, and impact is confined to Low confidentiality/integrity in the browser context.

Impact

This is a low-priority, low-real-risk issue. The vendor's own CVSS 4.0 score is 1.1 - one of the lowest possible for an XSS flaw - driven by a stacked set of limiting metrics (AC:H, AT:P attack requirements, PR:H privileges, UI:P user interaction, and only Low impacts across VC/VI/VA/SC/SI/SA). There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit code, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The E:P (Proof-of-Concept exploit maturity) sub-metric in the vendor vector is a theoretical maturity classification, not evidence of a real POC in the input. My own assessment is that the vendor score understates the flaw somewhat: a stored XSS in a metadata-parsing extension typically needs only edit rights (PR:L) and normal victim page-view (UI:R), not the PR:H/AC:H combination the vendor asserts - see assessed vectors below. Even so, the net risk remains low: impact is bounded to Low confidentiality/integrity in the victim's browser, the affected component is an optional MediaWiki add-on, and no active exploitation or weaponization signal exists.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with wiki edit privileges injects a script-related HTML payload into file metadata (e.g. a template field the CommonsMetadata extension parses and renders on a file description page). When another user - potentially a reviewer or administrator - views the affected file page, the unsanitized markup executes in their browser session. No public exploit code is available, and the high attack complexity and privilege requirements make opportunistic exploitation unlikely.

Monitor Track and reassess. Why: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 30, 2026

Cross-site scripting in the MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension (versions 1.43, 1.45 and 1.46) allows an authenticated editor who can write attacker-controlled content into file/media metadata to plant script-related HTML that executes when another user views the rendered page, giving low confidentiality and integrity impact confined to the victim's browser session. The root cause is CWE-80 (improper neutralization of script-related HTML tags), and the vendor's CVSS v4 score of 1.1 reflects high privileges (PR:H), an attack requirement (AT:P) and passive user interaction (UI:P), with a proof-of-concept-level exploit maturity metric (E:P) rather than any observed attacks. The independent assessment agrees this is a low-priority, low-real-risk issue that requires the optional extension to be installed and a victim to subsequently view the injected page; no CISA KEV listing or other confirmation of active exploitation appears in the available data, and Wikimedia has published both a tracking task and an associated Gerrit change addressing the flaw.

RemediationAI

Upstream fix available (PR/commit); released patched version not independently confirmed. Wikimedia's Gerrit change I66c102cae36a9d499c95c37db7458371c7c87258, tracked in the Phabricator task at https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T435999, addresses the weakness, so administrators should apply that change or upgrade the CommonsMetadata extension to the first release that incorporates it and then confirm which branch their deployment is actually running, since the CVE record itself does not name a fixed version. If an upgrade cannot be scheduled promptly, the most direct compensating control is to disable or uninstall the CommonsMetadata extension, which eliminates the vulnerable metadata rendering path entirely at the cost of losing file metadata display and related API features; a narrower option is to stop ingesting or rendering metadata from untrusted or remote sources and to tighten edit permissions so only trusted users can modify file description pages and media metadata, though this only shrinks the set of users who can plant a payload and a privileged editor remains sufficient to trigger the issue. A restrictive Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline and third-party script execution on wiki pages can reduce the chance that injected tags run, but MediaWiki sites commonly depend on site scripts and gadgets that a strict policy will break. Reviewing recent file-page and metadata edits for script tags helps find existing payloads, and because the vendor score is only 1.1 with low browser-confined confidentiality and integrity impact, this should be prioritized below critical work.

Affected VersionsENISA

MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension 1.43
MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension 1.45
MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension 1.46

Affected Packages

euvd mediawiki_commonsmetadata_extension no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

CWE-80 is a specific variant of cross-site scripting in which script-related HTML tags (such as <script> elements, inline event handlers, or javascript: URIs) are not neutralized when untrusted values are written into a web page. The MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension is an optional add-on rather than part of MediaWiki core; it aggregates metadata about media files from file description pages, embedded file metadata, and federated repositories such as Wikimedia Commons, and renders that metadata into wiki page output and API responses. In the vulnerable code path, metadata values reach the HTML output without escaping or sanitization, so attacker-supplied content is persisted in metadata and later executed in the browser of any user who views the affected page - a stored XSS pattern whose attack surfaces are the metadata ingestion paths (editing or uploading file description pages and metadata fields, and data pulled from remote repositories) and the rendering paths (file pages, galleries, multimedia viewers and API output). The CVE record carries the fully wildcarded CPE cpe:2.3:a:the_wikimedia_foundation:mediawiki_commonsmetadata_extension:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, so any installed version of the extension matches the record, while the per-version impact is explicitly the MediaWiki/extension 1.43, 1.45 and 1.46 lines. The assessed CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N) rates the issue as network-reachable with scope change but only low confidentiality and integrity impact and no availability impact.

Know when Mediawiki gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (wikimedia-foundation) PRIMARY 1.1 LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/E:P/S:N/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Amber
vuln.today AI 5.4 MEDIUM

Stored XSS requires edit rights to inject metadata (PR:L) and a victim page-view (UI:R); script running in another user's browser crosses the security scope (S:C) with limited C/I impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (wikimedia-foundation).

CVSS VectorVendor: wikimedia-foundation

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
Passive
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
Low
Vulnerable system: Integrity
Low
Vulnerable system: Availability
Low
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
Low
Subsequent system: Integrity
Low
Subsequent system: Availability
Low

DescriptionCVE.org

Improper neutralization of Script-Related HTML tags in a web page (basic XSS) vulnerability in The Wikimedia Foundation MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension allows Cross-Site Scripting (XSS).

This issue affects MediaWiki CommonsMetadata extension: 1.46, 1.45, and 1.43.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 81% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
optional MediaWiki extension, niche add-on footprint beyond Wikimedia sites
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity LOW
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Low
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

6
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +6
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Cross-Site Scripting occurs when an application accepts untrusted data and sends it to a web browser without proper validation or encoding.

CVE-2014-1610 MEDIUM POC
6.0 Jan 30

MediaWiki 1.22.x before 1.22.2, 1.21.x before 1.21.5, and 1.19.x before 1.19.11, when DjVu or PDF file upload support is

CVE-2015-8009 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jul 25

The MWOAuthDataStore::lookup_token function in Extension:OAuth for MediaWiki 1.25.x before 1.25.3, 1.24.x before 1.24.4,

CVE-2023-37303 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jun 30

An issue was discovered in the CheckUser extension for MediaWiki through 1.39.3. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), thi

CVE-2022-29906 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Apr 29

The admin API module in the QuizGame extension for MediaWiki through 1.37.2 (before 665e33a68f6fa1167df99c0aa18ed0157cdf

CVE-2022-29904 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Apr 29

The SemanticDrilldown extension for MediaWiki through 1.37.2 (before e688bdba6434591b5dff689a45e4d53459954773) allows SQ

CVE-2022-28206 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Mar 30

An issue was discovered in MediaWiki through 1.37.1. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely

CVE-2022-28205 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Mar 30

An issue was discovered in MediaWiki through 1.37.1. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely

CVE-2021-36128 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jul 02

An issue was discovered in the CentralAuth extension in MediaWiki through 1.36. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this

CVE-2021-36126 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jul 02

An issue was discovered in the AbuseFilter extension in MediaWiki through 1.36. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this

CVE-2017-8809 CRITICAL
9.8 Nov 15

api.php in MediaWiki before 1.27.4, 1.28.x before 1.28.3, and 1.29.x before 1.29.2 has a Reflected File Download vulnera

CVE-2024-47849 HIGH POC
8.8 Oct 05

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in The Wikimedia Foun

CVE-2021-36132 HIGH POC
8.8 Jul 02

An issue was discovered in the FileImporter extension in MediaWiki through 1.36. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vu

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy