Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessCraft Special:Search URL with smw profile
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DeliveryLure wiki visitor to open the link
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ExploitUnescaped SVG rendered into pre element via Html::rawElement
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ExecutionEvent handler executes script in wiki origin
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ImpactLimited action in visitor's wiki context
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Output encoding, context-aware escaping
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Execution 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 operator to have explicitly enabled the optional extended search engine by setting $wgSearchType = SMW\MediaWiki\Search\ExtendedSearchEngine::class (or the legacy SMWSearch alias); this is NOT a default configuration, so wikis using MediaWiki's default search are not affected on this path. The attacker needs no account, write permission, or stored content - the smw search profile must simply be registered and a query link must exist so ProfileForm::profile_sheet renders the query. The key limiting factor is required user interaction: a visitor must open the attacker-supplied crafted Special:Search URL (reflected, not stored), so there is no automated mass trigger. Impact is bounded to script execution in the wiki origin in the victim's browser; the advisory did not test or confirm session theft or account takeover. |
| Impact | This is a reflected XSS (CWE-79) carrying a moderate CVSS 4.0 score of 5.3, and the real-world risk is genuinely moderate rather than critical. Positive signals: the input CVSS 4.0 vector is AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N - network-reachable, low-complexity, and unauthenticated - and a public PoC reference exists in the GHSA advisory. Dampening signals dominate, however: the vector requires user interaction (UI:P - a victim must open the attacker's crafted URL), impact is limited (VC:L/VI:L, VA:N), and exploitation is gated on a non-default deployment choice (the operator must have enabled the optional extended search engine via $wgSearchType). No EPSS score is provided in the input, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified. There is no CISA KEV listing and no claim of active exploitation; the vuln.today decision label is 'this_month' (not act_now/emergency), consistent with a patch-this-cycle priority rather than a drop-everything emergency. Note a data limitation: the GHSA advisory itself states the first affected release, full affected range, and fixed release are 'unknown' and that its validation was a local JSDOM DOM-marker check (not a browser/Chrome test and not a tested session/account impact), whereas the CVE description, EUVD, and the composer package record independently assert the range 3.1.0 to <7.3.1 fixed in 7.3.1 - treat the fixed-version claim as established by the patch commit and package metadata, but the account-level consequence of the XSS remains untested. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | On a wiki that has enabled the optional SemanticMediaWiki extended search engine, an unauthenticated attacker places a crafted Special:Search URL (profile=smw) containing an SVG event-handler payload in a link and lures a reader into opening it. ProfileForm::profile_sheet inserts the search query into a <pre> element unescaped via Html::rawElement, so the browser parses the SVG and runs its handler as script in the wiki's origin. A public PoC request shape exists in the GHSA advisory, but it was validated only via a local JSDOM DOM-marker and is not verified as a working browser exploit; the AV:N/AC:L path still requires victim interaction (UI). |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 28, 2026
Reflected cross-site scripting in SemanticMediaWiki 3.1.0 through 7.3.0 lets an unauthenticated remote attacker execute script in a wiki's origin when a victim opens a crafted Special:Search URL that uses the smw profile with an SVG event-handler payload, because ProfileForm::profile_sheet writes the search query into a pre element with Html::rawElement instead of escaping it. Exposure is conditional: the operator must have enabled SemanticMediaWiki's optional extended search engine ($wgSearchType = SMW\MediaWiki\Search\ExtendedSearchEngine::class or the legacy SMWSearch alias), so wikis running MediaWiki's default search are not affected on this path, and the attack is reflected rather than stored, so a visitor must follow the attacker-supplied link. A public PoC reference exists in the form of a raw HTTP request shape plus a marker-only JSDOM validation in a disposable fixture; it is not verified as working exploit code beyond that confined test, there is no CISA KEV entry, and the moderate CVSS 4.0 score of 5.3 reflects limited confidentiality and integrity impact inside the victim's browser rather than a demonstrated account takeover.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: 7.3.1 - upgrade SemanticMediaWiki to 7.3.1 or later (Composer: composer/mediawiki/semantic-media-wiki >= 7.3.1); the fixing change is commit a77e592320707499769c9386a33d97bc966d9418, which replaces Html::rawElement( 'pre', [], $query ) with the escaping Html::element( 'pre', [], $query ) in ProfileForm::profile_sheet and adds regression tests asserting that a script-bearing query is entity-encoded while a benign query is preserved. If upgrading cannot be done immediately, the effective compensating control given the configuration prerequisite is to disable the optional extended search engine - remove or change $wgSearchType so it no longer points at SMW\MediaWiki\Search\ExtendedSearchEngine::class or the legacy SMWSearch alias and revert to MediaWiki's default search backend - which stops the smw profile from being registered and unloads the vulnerable rendering path, at the cost of losing SemanticMediaWiki's structured extended search form for users. Applying the one-line rawElement-to-element change as a local patch achieves the same effect while keeping the feature but creates a maintenance burden at the next upgrade; per the advisory's own remediation guidance this is a proposed fix whose regression test should exercise Special:Search with the extended engine enabled and confirm the payload renders as text. Advisory and patch references: https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/security/advisories/GHSA-375v-wx2r-4598 and https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/commit/a77e592320707499769c9386a33d97bc966d9418.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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
SemanticMediaWiki is a PHP extension for MediaWiki that adds structured, semantic search; the affected component is the optional extended search profile registered through the SpecialSearchProfileForm hook (src/MediaWiki/Hooks/SpecialSearchProfileForm.php), which only accepts the smw profile on Special:Search, and through ProfileForm::addProfile (src/MediaWiki/Search/ProfileForm/ProfileForm.php), gated by ExtendedSearchEngine::isActiveSearchType accepting either the canonical class name or the SMWSearch alias. In ProfileForm::profile_sheet the search engine's query string is concatenated into $text using Html::rawElement( 'pre', [], $query ), which treats the value as already-safe HTML; the attacker-controlled search parameter therefore lands inside a pre element as live markup, so a crafted SVG element with an event handler is parsed and executed in the wiki origin. This is CWE-79 (improper neutralization of input during web page generation), reflected rather than stored: no account, write permission or persisted content is required, but the victim must open the crafted URL. The advisory confirms SemanticMediaWiki 7.3.0 as vulnerable and notes that the raw pre wrapper was introduced by commit 6db2419fa in 2019 and first shipped in tag 3.1.0, while 5.0.0 release notes record a period when the SMWSearch feature was not working, so the continuous vulnerable interval and exact first affected release are asserted by package metadata (>= 3.1.0, < 7.3.1) rather than independently re-established. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:semanticmediawiki:semanticmediawiki:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* matches all versions and must be narrowed to the vulnerable range.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N
Unauthenticated network-reachable reflected XSS (PR:N, AV:N, AC:L) that requires the victim to click a link (UI:R) and executes in the wiki origin (S:C) with limited confidentiality/integrity impact and no availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
DescriptionCVE.org
SemanticMediaWiki from 3.1.0 before 7.3.1 contains a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject markup through the search parameter of the extended Special:Search profile. Attackers can send visitors crafted URLs using the smw profile with SVG event handlers, which ProfileForm::profile_sheet inserts unescaped into a pre element, executing script in the wiki origin.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Cross-Site Scripting occurs when an application accepts untrusted data and sends it to a web browser without proper validation or encoding.
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EUVD-2026-110720
GHSA-xq8g-94p2-h527
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB