Semantic MediaWiki: Missing authorization allows page locking via annotation
Summary
Semantic MediaWiki (SMW), an extension for MediaWiki, is affected in versions from 2.5.0 before 7.4.1. An editor without the edit-protection right can add an 'Is edit protected' annotation to pages, or set it in widely transcluded templates, which locks those pages. Other editors and administrators are then blocked from editing, moving or deleting them, and the lock has no expiry. Exploitation requires an authenticated account with edit rights and no user interaction.
Affected
- Semantic MediaWiki 2.5.0 up to but not including 7.4.1
- Packagist package SemanticMediaWiki (same range)
Fixed in
- Semantic MediaWiki 7.4.1
Workaround
- No vendor workaround is documented. Upgrading to 7.4.1 is the fix.
- Interim measure (not from the vendor): restrict who holds editor rights and review pages that carry the 'Is edit protected' annotation.
Exploitation
- No known exploitation in the wild at the time of writing.
- No public exploit code is known.
- Not listed in the CISA KEV catalogue (according to an aggregator; the catalogue was not checked directly).
Our recommendation
- Upgrade Semantic MediaWiki to 7.4.1 or later.
- Check whether SMW is installed on your wiki, and which version is in use.
- Review pages with the 'Is edit protected' annotation and remove unexpected ones.
- Limit editor rights and disable open self-registration where possible.
- Keep a backup so locked pages can be recovered.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-9w3p-9m8x-j2mw github.com
- Semantic MediaWiki 7.4.1 release github.com
- Fix commit ca81329 github.com
- ProtectionValidator.php at 7.4.0 (pre-fix code) github.com
- VulnCheck advisory www.vulncheck.com
- VulDB entry 435573 vuldb.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 07:02.
Original description (NVD)
Semantic MediaWiki 2.5.0 before 7.4.1 contains a missing authorization vulnerability that allows editors without the edit-protection right to lock pages by adding an Is edit protected annotation. Attackers can add [[Is edit protected::true]] to pages or #set it in widely transcluded templates, so the TitleQuickPermissions hook blocks other editors and administrators from editing, moving or deleting them indefinitely.
NVD references (6)
- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/blob/7.4.0/src/Protection/ProtectionValidator.php#L293…
- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/commit/ca81329c74aa64077f367e02ad00c079458ef10a
- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/releases/tag/7.4.1
- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/security/advisories/GHSA-9w3p-9m8x-j2mw
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/semantic-mediawiki-2.5.0-before-7.4.1-missing-authorization-via-is-edit-…
- https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/security/advisories/GHSA-9w3p-9m8x-j2mw
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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