Citizen Short Description stored XSS vulnerability through wikitext
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 software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composer package | starcitizentools/short-description | >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.1 | 4.0.1 |
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
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-79- Platform
- Composer
- Package
starcitizentools/short-description- Disclosed
- 03.07.2025
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 10:22
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-p85q-mww9-gwqf - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: starcitizentools/short-description
All published vulnerabilities of this package (Composer package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
This is the only known vulnerability of this package.
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