Citizen Short Description stored XSS vulnerability through wikitext
The advisory, in context
Summary
Short descriptions are not properly sanitized by the ShortDescription before being inserted as HTML using mw.util.addSubtitle, allowing any user to insert arbitrary HTML into the DOM by editing a page.
Details
The description provided by the user via the {{SHORTDESC:}} parser function is insufficiently sanitized by the sanitize() function, as html entities are decoded:
https://github.com/StarCitizenTools/mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription/blob/7244b1e8b5cb6dbd7e546c5be7fed8a56e33d065/includes/Hooks/ParserHooks.php#L147-L159
Via JS, the short description is then passed to mw.util.addSubtitle, which inserts it as raw HTML:
https://github.com/StarCitizenTools/mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription/blob/7244b1e8b5cb6dbd7e546c5be7fed8a56e33d065/modules/ext.shortDescription.js#L8
https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki/blob/96372101b3c579d9992e8a31a3ccd90a937cac47/resources/src/mediawiki.util/util.js#L552-L563
PoC
- Enable ShortDescription
- Make sure
$wgShortDescriptionEnableTaglineis set totrue(this is the default) - Create a page and insert the following wikitext:
{{SHORTDESC:<img src="" onerror="alert('shortdescription xss')">}} - Visit the page
Impact
Arbitrary HTML can be inserted into the DOM by any user, allowing for JavaScript to be executed.
Affected packages
Start with the recorded fix for your release branch. Check your installed version and test compatibility before upgrading. Fixing this advisory does not rule out other vulnerabilities in the release.
From 4.0.0 before 4.0.1
Fixed in 4.0.1
View affected-version evidence
{
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "4.0.0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.0.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": []
}References
- https://github.com/StarCitizenTools/mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription/security/advisories/GHSA-p85q-mww9-gwqf
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-53369
- https://github.com/StarCitizenTools/mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription/commit/bc4fdbaeb1dff127fb6d08c0d385b64aa128c8f8
- https://github.com/StarCitizenTools/mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription