Stored XSS via unescaped filenames
Published Aug 20, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026
Stored XSS in Cesanta Mongoose before 7.22 lets attackers run script in a user's browser via crafted filenames in MG_ENABLE_DIRLIST output. The printdirentry() code path reached from listdir() in src/http.c URL-encodes the href target but writes the raw filesystem filename into the HTML link text without entity encoding, so browser-parsed markup from the filename becomes active content. Exploitation requires a file-write path into a served directory and a victim who browses a directory listing; the resulting script runs in the Mongoose origin and can read session data or issue actions as that victim.
Summary
What happened
Stored XSS in Cesanta Mongoose before 7.22 lets attackers run script in a user's browser via crafted filenames in MG_ENABLE_DIRLIST output. The printdirentry() code path reached from listdir() in src/http.c URL-encodes the href target but writes the raw filesystem filename into the HTML link text without entity encoding, so browser-parsed markup from the filename becomes active content. Exploitation requires a file-write path into a served directory and a victim who browses a directory listing; the resulting script runs in the Mongoose origin and can read session data or issue actions as that victim.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-73254
- Published
- Aug 20, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 20, 2026
- Vendor
- Cesanta
- Product
- Mongoose
- Classifications
- CWE-79, CAPEC-592, T1059.007
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 20, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 7.22
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- GitHub advisory proof of concept for stored XSSproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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