XSS in Rack

CVE-2026-25500

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. Prior to versions 2.2.22, 3.1.20, and 3.2.5, `Rack::Directory` generates an HTML directory index where each file entry is rendered as a clickable link. If a file exists on disk whose basename starts with the `javascript:` scheme (e.g. `javascript:alert(1)`), the generated index contains an anchor whose `href` is exactly `javascript:alert(1)`. Clicking the entry executes JavaScript in the browser (demonstrated with `alert(1)`). Versions 2.2.22, 3.1.20, and 3.2.5 fix 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 (17.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 18th percentile — 17.8% 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-2026-25500: held from 0.002 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.003 · change: +0.001

Affected products

  • Rack — versions < 2.2.22, >= 3.0.0.beta1, < 3.1.20, >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.5

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-25500?
CVE-2026-25500 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Rack, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 5.4/10. Published 2026-02-18.
How severe is CVE-2026-25500?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.4 out of 10.