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Improper AuthenticationWeakness · CWE-287

CVE-2025-6926

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
Improper Authentication vulnerability in Wikimedia Foundation Mediawiki - CentralAuth Extension allows : Bypass Authentication.This issue affects Mediawiki - CentralAuth Extension: from 1.39.X before 1.39.13, from 1.42.X before 1.42.7, from 1.43.X before 1.43.2.

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 confidence

Improper authentication vulnerability in MediaWiki's CentralAuth extension allows attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms. The CentralAuth extension handles centralized authentication across multiple wikis in a MediaWiki farm, and the flaw permits unauthorized access without proper credentials.

MitigationUpgrade the MediaWiki CentralAuth extension to version 1.39.13, 1.42.7, 1.43.2 or later to remediate the authentication bypass vulnerability.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify MediaWiki installation
    Locate the MediaWiki root directory and check for includes/Defines.php or LocalSettings.php. The version is typically defined in includes/Defines.php as the MW_VERSION constant, or can be found in the $wgVersion variable in LocalSettings.php.
    Affected if MediaWiki is installed and CentralAuth extension is in use
  2. Determine the installed MediaWiki version
    Open includes/Defines.php and find the MW_VERSION constant, or search for $wgVersion in LocalSettings.php. This will show the exact version number such as 1.39.12, 1.42.6, or 1.43.1.
    Affected if Version is 1.39.x before 1.39.13, 1.42.x before 1.42.7, or 1.43.x before 1.43.2
  3. Verify CentralAuth extension is enabled
    Search for CentralAuth-related configuration in LocalSettings.php. Look for lines like require_once 'extensions/CentralAuth/CentralAuth.php'; or $wgCentralAuthEnable = true; Also check if the extensions/CentralAuth directory exists.
    Affected if CentralAuth extension is loaded and enabled in the configuration
  4. Confirm vulnerability applicability
    Cross-reference the installed version against all three affected branches: 1.39.x versions below 1.39.13, 1.42.x versions below 1.42.7, and 1.43.x versions below 1.43.2. If CentralAuth is enabled and the version falls into any of these ranges, the environment is affected.
    Affected if Both conditions are true: CentralAuth is enabled AND the version falls into an affected range

You are affected if the CentralAuth extension is enabled and your MediaWiki version is 1.39.x before 1.39.13, 1.42.x before 1.42.7, or 1.43.x before 1.43.2.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade the MediaWiki CentralAuth extension to version 1.39.13, 1.42.7, 1.43.2 or later to remediate the authentication bypass vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to MediaWiki 1.39.13 (for 1.39.x users), 1.42.7 (for 1.42.x users), or 1.43.2 (for 1.43.x users)

  1. 1. Identify your current MediaWiki version by checking the includes/Defines.php file or the Special:Version page
  2. 2. Back up your MediaWiki database and all files before upgrading
  3. 3. Based on your current version branch, upgrade to the appropriate fixed version: for 1.39.x upgrade to 1.39.13, for 1.42.x upgrade to 1.42.7, for 1.43.x upgrade to 1.43.2
  4. 4. Run the update.php maintenance script to apply any database schema changes
  5. 5. Clear the MediaWiki object cache (e.g., purge LocalSettings.php $wgCacheDirectory or restart memcached)
  6. 6. Verify the CentralAuth extension is properly loaded and authentication works correctly
Caveat Review release notes for your target version to check for any breaking changes or deprecated features; major version jumps (e.g., 1.39 to 1.43) may require additional testing

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-6926 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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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