XSS in Ether Etherpad
CVE-2026-55087
Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editor. From 2.1.0 until 3.1.0, Etherpad uses the attacker-controlled x-proxy-path request header in src/node/hooks/express/admin.ts when substituting paths into HTML, JavaScript, and CSS under /admin without sanitization, Vary: x-proxy-path, or Cache-Control: private, no-store. A shared proxy or CDN can cache the resulting response and serve attacker-injected script to an administrator. In src/node/hooks/express/specialpages.ts, version 3.0.0 also accepts a protocol-relative x-proxy-path value when constructing the /p/:pad/timeslider redirect, allowing redirection to an attacker-controlled host. The issues are exploitable when the deployment permits client-supplied x-proxy-path headers to reach Etherpad. This issue is fixed in version 3.1.0.
Vulnerability class: XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 6.1 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.
Affected products
- Ether Etherpad — versions >= 2.1.0, < 3.1.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-55087?
- CVE-2026-55087 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Ether Etherpad, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 6.1/10. Published 2026-08-19.
- How severe is CVE-2026-55087?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.1 out of 10.