{"id":59014,"date":"2025-07-10T20:29:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T20:29:38","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-26T20:58:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T02:58:47","slug":"cve-2025-53368-critical-xss-vulnerability-in-mediawiki-citizen-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53368-critical-xss-vulnerability-in-mediawiki-citizen-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-53368: Critical XSS Vulnerability in MediaWiki Citizen Skin<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

A significant security flaw, CVE-2025-53368, has been identified in Citizen, a widely-used skin for the MediaWiki platform. MediaWiki is a scalable open-source wiki platform that powers many websites, including Wikipedia. The Citizen skin, which incorporates extensions to enhance user experience, has an XSS vulnerability<\/a> that allows a threat actor to compromise system integrity and potentially leak sensitive data. This vulnerability affects versions<\/a> 1.9.4 to before 3.4.0 and is particularly alarming due to the potential widespread impact on platforms using the susceptible Citizen skin.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-53368
\nSeverity: Critical, CVSS Score: 8.6
\nAttack Vector: Web-based
\nPrivileges Required: Low (page editing privileges)
\nUser Interaction: Required (searching for specific pages)
\nImpact: Potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

MediaWiki Citizen<\/a> Skin | 1.9.4 to before 3.4.0<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The root cause of the vulnerability lies in the lack of proper sanitization of page descriptions by the Citizen<\/a> skin when using the old search bar. In this scenario, any user with page editing privileges can craft malicious<\/a> JavaScript payloads, which are subsequently inserted as raw HTML into the Document Object Model (DOM). When another user searches for the tampered page, the harmful script executes, leading to a cross-site scripting<\/a> (XSS) attack. This can result in a range of malicious activities, from stealing session cookies to injecting harmful content, which can compromise the system and potentially lead<\/a> to data leakage.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s consider a conceptual example of how this exploit might manifest. An attacker with page-editing privileges could insert a malicious script into the page description like so:<\/p>\n

This is a page description. <\/p><\/code><\/pre>\n
In this hypothetical example, `stealCookies()` is a function designed by the attacker to steal user session cookies when the malformed image fails to load, triggering the `onerror` event. When another user searches and lands on this page, the malicious script executes<\/a>, compromising the user’s session.<\/p>\n
Mitigation and Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n
The creators of the Citizen skin have addressed this vulnerability in version<\/a> 3.4.0. All users are strongly advised to update to the latest version to avoid potential<\/a> exploitation. Alternatively, deploying a Web<\/a> Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation by detecting and blocking suspicious payloads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview A significant security flaw, CVE-2025-53368, has been identified in Citizen, a widely-used skin for the MediaWiki platform. MediaWiki is a scalable open-source wiki platform that powers many websites, including Wikipedia. The Citizen skin, which incorporates extensions to enhance user experience, has an XSS vulnerability that allows a threat actor to compromise system integrity and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[81],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-59014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-xss"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t