XSS in Kovah Linkace

CVE-2025-53838

LinkAce is a self-hosted archive to collect website links. A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability was discovered in versions prior to 2.1.9 that allows an attacker to inject arbitrary JavaScript, which is then executed in the context of a user's browser when the malicious link is clicked. This is a one-click XSS, meaning the victim only needs to click a crafted link — no further interaction is required. The application contains a stored XSS vulnerability due to insufficient filtering and escaping of user-supplied data inserted into link attributes. Malicious JavaScript code can be saved in the database along with the link and executed in the user’s browser when clicking the link, leading to arbitrary script execution within the context of the site. Version 2.1.9 fixes the issue.

Vulnerability class: XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.4 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (17.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 18th percentile — 17.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-53838: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-53838?
CVE-2025-53838 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Kovah Linkace, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 5.4/10. Published 2025-09-08.
How severe is CVE-2025-53838?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.4 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-53838 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.