GHSA-jm9m-rqr3-wfmh
HIGHKirby has insufficient permission checks in the language settings
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
getkirby/cms🐘getkirby/cms🐘getkirby/cms🐘getkirby/cms🐘getkirby/cms🐘getkirby/cmsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
TL;DR
This vulnerability affects all Kirby sites with enabled languages option that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users.
If you have disabled the languages and/or api option and don't call any methods in your code that cause a write access to languages (language creation, update or deletion), your site is not affected.
Introduction
Kirby allows to restrict the permissions of specific user roles. Users of that role can only perform permitted actions.
Permissions for creating and deleting languages have already existed and could be configured, but were not enforced by Kirby's frontend or backend code.
A permission for updating existing languages has not existed before the patched versions. So disabling the languages.* wildcard permission for a role could not have prohibited updates to existing language definitions.
Impact
The missing permission checks allowed attackers with Panel access to manipulate the language definitions.
The language definitions are at the core of multi-language content in Kirby. Unauthorized modifications with malicious intent can cause significant damage, for example:
- If the
languagesoption was enabled but no language exists, creating the first language will switch Kirby to multi-language mode. - Deleting an existing language will lead to content loss of all translated content in that language. Deleting the last language will switch Kirby to single-language mode.
- Updating a language allows to change the metadata including the language slug (used in page URLs) and language variables. It also allows to change the default language, which will cause Kirby to use the new default language's content as a fallback for non-existing translations.
Depending on the site code, the result of such actions can cause loss of site availability (e.g. error messages in the site frontend) or integrity (due to changed URLs or removed translations).
Patches
The problem has been patched in Kirby 3.6.6.6, Kirby 3.7.5.5, Kirby 3.8.4.4, Kirby 3.9.8.2, Kirby 3.10.1.1, and Kirby 4.3.1. Please update to one of these or a later version to fix the vulnerability.
In all of the mentioned releases, we have added checks for the languages.create and languages.delete permissions that ensure that users without those permissions cannot perform the respective actions. We have also added a new languages.update permission.
Credits
Thanks to Sebastian Eberlein of JUNO (@SebastianEberlein-JUNO) for reporting the identified issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | getkirby/cms | all versions | 3.6.6.6 |
| 🐘Packagist | getkirby/cms | ≥ 3.7.0&&< 3.7.5.5 | 3.7.5.5 |
| 🐘Packagist | getkirby/cms | ≥ 3.8.0&&< 3.8.4.4 | 3.8.4.4 |
| 🐘Packagist | getkirby/cms | ≥ 3.9.0&&< 3.9.8.2 | 3.9.8.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | getkirby/cms | ≥ 3.10.0&&< 3.10.1.1 | 3.10.1.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | getkirby/cms | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.3.1 | 4.3.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for getkirby/cms. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update getkirby/cms to 3.6.6.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jm9m-rqr3-wfmh is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-jm9m-rqr3-wfmh is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-jm9m-rqr3-wfmh. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-jm9m-rqr3-wfmh in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-jm9m-rqr3-wfmh across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.