CVE-2026-21430
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2026-21430 is a CSRF vulnerability in Emlog's article creation functionality that allows attackers to force users to post malicious articles. When combined with stored XSS, this can lead to account takeover. All users of Emlog version 2.5.23 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Emlog
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete account takeover leading to website defacement, data theft, and further compromise of the hosting environment.
Likely Case
Unauthorized article posting with malicious content that could spread malware or phishing links to visitors.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if CSRF tokens and proper input validation are implemented.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction but is straightforward once combined with XSS.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: None available
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/emlog/emlog/security/advisories/GHSA-2g2w-vmg7-pq4q
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Monitor vendor for updates and apply immediately when released.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Protection
allAdd CSRF tokens to article creation forms and validate them server-side.
Manual code modification required - add CSRF token generation and validation to article creation endpoints
Input Sanitization
allImplement strict input validation and output encoding to prevent XSS.
Manual code modification required - sanitize all user inputs and encode outputs
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict article creation to trusted users only and implement additional authentication steps
- Deploy WAF rules to detect and block CSRF attempts and XSS payloads
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if running Emlog version 2.5.23 via admin panel or version file.Check Version:
Check admin panel or examine emlog/version.php fileVerify Fix Applied:
Test article creation with CSRF tokens and verify they are properly validated.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple article creation attempts from same IP with different user agents
- Articles containing suspicious scripts or iframes
Network Indicators:
- POST requests to article creation endpoints without referrer headers or CSRF tokens
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (uri_path="/admin/article.php" OR uri_path="/admin/save_log.php") AND http_method="POST" AND NOT csrf_token=*