Summary
Cross-site scripting (XSS) from writer field content in the site frontend
Credits
Thanks to Azrul Ikhwan Zulkifli (@azrultech) from BAE Systems AI Vulnerability Research Team for responsibly reporting the identified issue.
Impact
Kirby's writer field stores its formatted content as HTML code. Unlike with other field types, it is not possible to escape HTML special characters against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, otherwise the formatting would be lost.
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of vulnerability that allows to execute any kind of JavaScript code inside the site frontend or Panel session of other users. If the user is logged in to the Panel, a harmful script can for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim.
Because the writer field did not securely sanitize its contents on save, it was possible to inject malicious HTML code into the content file by sending it to Kirby's API directly without using the Panel. This malicious HTML code would then be displayed on the site frontend and executed in the browsers of site visitors and logged in users who are browsing the site.
This vulnerability is critical if you might have potential attackers in your group of authenticated Panel users. They can escalate their privileges if they get access to the Panel session of an admin user. Depending on your site, other JavaScript-powered attacks are possible.
You are not affected if you don't use the writer field in any of your blueprints. The attack can only be performed by logged-in users and only surfaces in the site frontend (i.e. in your templates). The Panel itself is unaffected and will not execute JavaScript that was injected into writer field content.
Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.
CVE-2021-41252 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (3.5.8); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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We have patched the vulnerability in Kirby 3.5.8 by sanitizing all writer field contents on the backend whenever the content is modified via Kirby's API. Please update to this or a later version to fix the vulnerability.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2021-41252? CVE-2021-41252 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in getkirby/cms (composer), affecting versions >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.8. It is fixed in 3.5.8. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2021-41252? CVE-2021-41252 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of getkirby/cms are affected by CVE-2021-41252? getkirby/cms (composer) versions >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.8 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2021-41252? Yes. CVE-2021-41252 is fixed in 3.5.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2021-41252 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2021-41252 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2021-41252 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2021-41252? Upgrade
getkirby/cmsto 3.5.8 or later.