GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in ckeditor4. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for ckeditor4 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
CKEditor cross-site scripting vulnerability in AJAX sample
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh.
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
ckeditor4npmDescription
Affected packages
The vulnerability has been discovered in the AJAX sample available at the samples/old/ajax.html file location. All integrators that use that sample in the production code can be affected.
Impact
A potential vulnerability has been discovered in one of CKEditor's 4 samples that are shipped with production code. The vulnerability allowed to execute JavaScript code by abusing the AJAX sample. It affects all users using the CKEditor 4 at version < 4.24.0-lts where samples/old/ajax.html is used in a production environment.
Patches
The problem has been recognized and patched. The fix will be available in version 4.24.0-lts.
For more information
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments about this advisory.
Acknowledgements
The CKEditor 4 team would like to thank Rafael Pedrero and INCIBE (original report) for recognizing and reporting this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | ckeditor4 | all versions | 4.24.0-ltsnpm install ckeditor4@4.24.0-lts |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ckeditor4, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ckeditor4 to 4.24.0-lts or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh. 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-wh5w-82f3-wrxh in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.