CVE-2026-32870

Published Apr 24, 2026

Last updated 2 days ago

Overview

Description
Kirby is an open-source content management system. Kirby's `Xml::value()` method has special handling for `<![CDATA[ ]]>` blocks. If the input value is already valid `CDATA`, it is not escaped a second time but allowed to pass through. However, prior to versions 4.9.0 and 5.4.0, it was possible to trick this check into allowing values that only contained a valid `CDATA` block but also contained other structured data outside of the `CDATA` block. This structured data would then also be allowed to pass through, circumventing the value protection. The `Xml::value()` method is used in `Xml::tag()`, `Xml::create()` and in the `Xml` data handler (e.g. `Data::encode($string, 'xml')`). Both the vulnerable methods and the data handler are not used in the Kirby core. However they may be used in site or plugin code, e.g. to create XML strings from input data. If those generated files are passed to another implementation that assigns specific meaning to the XML schema, manipulation of this system's behavior is possible. Kirby sites that don't use XML generation in site or plugin code are not affected. The problem has been patched in Kirby 4.9.0 and Kirby 5.4.0. In all of the mentioned releases, Kirby has added additional checks that only allow unchanged `CDATA` passthrough if the entire string is made up of valid `CDATA` blocks and no structured data. This protects all uses of the method against the described vulnerability.
Source
security-advisories@github.com
NVD status
Analyzed
Products
kirby

Risk scores

CVSS 4.0

Type
Secondary
Base score
6.9
Impact score
-
Exploitability score
-
Vector string
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:H/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Severity
MEDIUM

CVSS 3.1

Type
Primary
Base score
7.5
Impact score
3.6
Exploitability score
3.9
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Severity
HIGH

Weaknesses

security-advisories@github.com
CWE-91

Social media

Hype score
Not currently trending

Configurations

  1. Kirby is an open-source content management system. Prior to versions 4.9.0 and 5.4.0, Kirby's user permissions control which user role is allowed to perform specific actions to content models in the CMS. These permissions are defined for each role in the user blueprint (`site/blueprints/users/...`). It is also possible to customize the permissions for each target model in the model blueprints (such as in `site/blueprints/pages/...`) using the `options` feature. The permissions and options together control the authorization of user actions. For pages, Kirby provides the `pages.create` and `pages.changeStatus` permissions (among others). In affected releases, Kirby checked these permissions independently and only for the respective action. However the `changeStatus` permission didn't take effect on page creation. New pages are created as drafts by default and need to be published by changing the page status of an existing page draft. This is ensured when the page is created via the Kirby Panel. However the REST API allows to override the `isDraft` flag when creating a new page. This allowed authenticated attackers with the `pages.create` permission to immediately create published pages, bypassing the normal editorial workflow. The problem has been patched in Kirby 4.9.0 and Kirby 5.4.0. Kirby has updated the `Options` logic to no longer double-resolve queries in option values coming from `OptionsQuery` or `OptionsApi` sources. Kirby now only resolves queries that are directly configured in the blueprints.CVE-2026-34587