CVE-2025-61636
Cross-Site Scripting in MediaWiki HTMLButtonField Component
Publication date: 2026-02-03
Last updated on: 2026-03-16
Assigner: wikimedia-foundation
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| mediawiki | mediawiki | to 1.39.14 (exc) |
| mediawiki | mediawiki | From 1.39.15 (inc) to 1.43.4 (exc) |
| mediawiki | mediawiki | From 1.43.5 (inc) to 1.44.1 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-79 | The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
CVE-2025-61636 is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in MediaWiki's Codex Special:Block interface. It occurs because certain message keys, specifically the 'ipbsubmit' button label, were not properly escaped before being rendered in the user interface. This improper escaping allows malicious input to be executed as code in the browser, potentially leading to security issues. The vulnerability was fixed by ensuring that raw HTML content is escaped at the rendering stage to prevent XSS attacks. [1]
How does this vulnerability affect compliance with common standards and regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA)?:
[{'type': 'paragraph', 'content': "CVE-2025-61636 is a low-risk cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in MediaWiki's Codex Special:Block interface caused by improper escaping of message keys in button labels."}, {'type': 'paragraph', 'content': 'While XSS vulnerabilities can potentially lead to unauthorized access or data exposure, the provided information does not specify any direct impact on compliance with common standards or regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.'}, {'type': 'paragraph', 'content': 'The risk rating for this vulnerability was assessed as low, and the fix involved escaping raw HTML content at the rendering stage to prevent XSS attacks.'}, {'type': 'paragraph', 'content': 'No explicit mention is made regarding how this vulnerability affects regulatory compliance or data protection obligations.'}] [1]
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
This vulnerability can allow an attacker to execute malicious scripts in the context of the affected MediaWiki web pages, specifically in the Codex Special:Block interface. This could lead to unauthorized actions, theft of user credentials, session hijacking, or other malicious activities performed through the victim's browser. However, the risk was assessed as low. [1]
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability can be detected by testing the Special:Block interface in MediaWiki with the configuration variable $wgUseCodexSpecialBlock set to true. Specifically, using the language parameter 'x-xss' in the URL (e.g., appending '?uselang=x-xss&usecodex=true' to the Special:Block page URL) can trigger an XSS popup alert if the vulnerability is present. This indicates improper escaping of the 'ipbsubmit' message key in the UI. There are no specific network commands provided, but manual testing via the browser with this parameter is effective. [1]
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
The immediate mitigation is to apply the patch that escapes raw HTML content passed to Html::rawElement in the buildCodexComponent function, ensuring proper escaping of button labels in the Codex Special:Block interface. This patch has been merged into MediaWiki core branches REL1_43, REL1_44, and master and was deployed to Wikimedia production on May 19, 2025. If you are running affected versions (before 1.39.14, 1.43.4, 1.44.1), you should upgrade to these patched versions or later. Additionally, ensure that the configuration variable $wgUseCodexSpecialBlock is set appropriately and monitor for any updates or further fixes related to message escaping. [1]