CVE-2025-52738
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in Wikimedia Foundation Wikipedia Preview wikipedia-preview allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Wikipedia Preview: from n/a through <= 1.15.0.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe wikipedia-preview library (versions through 1.15.0) contains a missing authorization vulnerability that allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. This likely enables unauthorized access to or manipulation of Wikipedia preview functionality that should be restricted to privileged users.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify wikipedia-preview dependencySearch your project dependencies (package.json, requirements.txt, Gemfile, or similar) for the wikipedia-preview libraryAffected if The library is listed as a dependency
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Determine installed versionRun the appropriate package manager command to list the installed version (e.g., npm list wikipedia-preview, pip show wikipedia-preview, or check your lock file)Affected if The installed version is 1.15.0 or any earlier version
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Verify preview functionality is exposedInspect your application's code to determine if the wikipedia-preview library's preview rendering functions are being called and made accessible to end users (check for imports of preview-related modules and their exposure via API routes or UI components)Affected if The preview functionality is exposed to users without additional authorization wrapping
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Check for custom authorization wrappersSearch your codebase for any custom authorization or permission checks implemented around wikipedia-preview function calls (look for security-level configurations, access-control checks, or permission validations applied to the preview feature)Affected if No custom authorization logic exists around the preview functionality, or access control security levels are configured but not properly enforced
You are affected if wikipedia-preview version 1.15.0 or earlier is installed AND the preview functionality is exposed to users without proper authorization checks in place.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataReview and implement proper authorization checks for all access-controlled functions in the wikipedia-preview library, ensuring that user permissions are validated before allowing access to sensitive preview operations.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-52738 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-52738 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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