Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAttacker embeds malicious external URL in portal content
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DeliveryAuthenticated portal user clicks link
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ExploitNew tab opens attacker-controlled page
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ExecutionAttacker page invokes window.opener.location redirect
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PersistOriginal portal tab silently replaced with phishing page
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ImpactUser submits credentials to phishing site
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation, allowlisting
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated WSO2 API Manager or API Control Plane portal user to click a malicious external link surfaced within the portal UI. The vulnerability applies in 'certain configurations' per the description - specifically those where external links are rendered with |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.7 Medium score with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N is well-calibrated for this class of vulnerability: scope change (S:C) captures the cross-context browser manipulation, but direct impact is limited to integrity (I:L - window redirection) with no confidentiality or availability effect from the flaw itself. Credential theft is a downstream social-engineering consequence, not a direct technical impact. Exploitation is gated on user interaction (UI:R - the user must click a malicious external link present in the portal), and no EPSS data or KEV listing is available, leaving exploitation probability unconfirmed. The practical risk is social-engineering-dependent: the attacker must also have a mechanism to introduce a malicious URL into the portal's link-rendering surface, which may require write access to API metadata or documentation fields. Even a mid-sized municipal IT team in sanok running WSO2 as their enterprise API gateway should treat this as a credentialing risk, since WSO2 portals frequently serve as the primary authentication entry point for downstream services. The 'Authentication Bypass' tag on this CVE is a mislabel - the vulnerability is reverse tabnapping, not an authentication bypass in any technical sense. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker registers a convincing domain and submits it as an API documentation URL within the WSO2 portal (or persuades an internal publisher to include it). When an authenticated developer portal user clicks the link, a new browser tab opens to the attacker's page, which immediately executes |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 10, 2026
Reverse tabnapping in WSO2 API Manager and WSO2 API Control Plane exposes authenticated users to window-context hijacking when the portal opens external links without nullifying the JavaScript window.opener reference. An attacker who can surface a malicious external link within the portal - via API documentation fields, link-accepting content areas, or other user-controlled inputs - can redirect the user's original authenticated portal tab to an attacker-controlled phishing page once the external link is clicked. The vendor has published advisory WSO2-2026-5164; no public exploit code and no CISA KEV listing have been identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Consult the WSO2 security advisory WSO2-2026-5164 at https://security.docs.wso2.com/en/latest/security-announcements/security-advisories/2026/WSO2-2026-5164/ for patched versions and upgrade instructions for both WSO2 API Manager and WSO2 API Control Plane. The canonical technical fix is ensuring all external anchor tags in portal templates include rel="noopener noreferrer" and/or that JavaScript link-opening logic sets window.opener = null immediately after opening external destinations. As a compensating control pending patching, administrators should restrict user-configurable external URL fields (such as API documentation links, endpoint descriptions, and portal content fields) to an allowlist of trusted domains, reducing the attacker's ability to surface malicious links within the portal. Deploying a Content Security Policy (CSP) header with a restrictive navigate-to or frame-ancestors directive provides additional depth but does not fully close the window.opener channel. Exact fixed version numbers are not available from the CPE data; administrators should not deploy speculative version upgrades without confirming against the vendor advisory.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 2 packages in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The vulnerability is a classic reverse tabnapping flaw arising from browser behavior: anchor tags rendered with target="_blank" but without rel="noopener noreferrer" leave the newly opened tab with a live window.opener JavaScript reference back to the originating page. An attacker-controlled destination can invoke window.opener.location = 'https://phishing-site.example' to silently replace the authenticated session window without user awareness. CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) is assigned; the more precise root cause is a failure to enforce link rendering policy that neutralizes cross-context browser references. Affected products per CPE are cpe:2.3:a:wso2:wso2_api_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* and cpe:2.3:a:wso2:wso2_api_control_plane:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, with version bounds unspecified in the CPE wildcard.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Attacker needs no WSO2 authentication (PR:N); user must click the link (UI:R); browser cross-context manipulation constitutes scope change (S:C); only integrity impact via window redirection (I:L), no confidentiality or availability direct effect.
Primary rating from Vendor (WSO2).
CVSS VectorVendor: WSO2
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
The product's web portals allow external links to be opened in a new browser tab. In certain configurations, the originating window retains access to the newly opened page, allowing interaction between the two browser contexts when navigating to external destinations.
This vulnerability could allow an attacker to manipulate the original trusted application window after a user clicks a malicious external link. This manipulation can lead to users being redirected to phishing pages, enabling credential theft, or facilitating other unauthorized actions within the context of the trusted site.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
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What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
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EUVD-2026-75731
GHSA-hgfv-hm95-r744
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB