CVE-2026-44175
Published:June 01, 2026
Updated:June 01, 2026
TL;DR This vulnerability affects all Kirby sites that use the list field or list block, when content is authored by users who may not be fully trusted. The attack requires an authenticated Panel user with update permission to any list field or list block. This vulnerability is of high severity for affected sites. Kirby sites are not affected if they don't use the list field (or blocks field with the list block) in any of their blueprints, or if every user who can edit content is fully trusted. The attack only surfaces in the site frontend (i.e. in the consuming project's templates). The Panel itself is unaffected and will not execute JavaScript that was injected into list field content. *** Introduction 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 the same or other users. In the Panel, a harmful script can for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim. In a stored XSS attack, the malicious payload is saved into the content data and has the potential to affect other users or site visitors. Such vulnerabilities are critical if applications might have potential attackers in their group of authenticated Panel users. They can escalate their privileges if they get access to the Panel session of an admin user. Depending on the site, other JavaScript-powered attacks are possible. A specific class of stored XSS is auto-firing, meaning the malicious injected JavaScript code is executed by the browser when the page loads without the victim having to perform a specific action. Affected components Kirby's "list field" (https://getkirby.com/docs/reference/panel/fields/list) stores its formatted content as HTML code. Unlike with other field types, it is not possible to "escape HTML special characters" (https://getkirby.com/docs/guide/templates/escaping) against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, otherwise the formatting would be lost. Impact In affected releases, Kirby did not securely sanitize the contents of list fields on save. This allowed attackers 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. Patches The problem has been patched in "Kirby 4.9.1" (https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/4.9.1) and "Kirby 5.4.1" (https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/5.4.1). Please update to one of these or a "later version" (https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases) to fix the vulnerability. In all of the mentioned releases, Kirby has added HTML sanitization (like in the writer field) to the backend code that handles updates to the contents of list fields. Credits Kirby thanks @offset for responsibly reporting the identified issue.
Affected Packages
https://github.com/getkirby/kirby.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=5.0.0 <5.4.1Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 5.4.1https://github.com/getkirby/kirby.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=3.0.0 <4.9.1Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 4.9.1getkirby/cms (PHP):
Affected version(s) >=dev-release-3.6.1/3459-str-empty-needle <4.9.1Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 4.9.1getkirby/cms (PHP):
Affected version(s) >=5.0.0 <5.4.1Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 5.4.1Related Resources (4)
Do you need more information?
Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
8.5
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
PASSIVE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
HIGH
Vulnerable System Integrity
HIGH
Vulnerable System Availability
NONE
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
7.3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Weakness Type (CWE)
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')