# CVE-2012-5391: Auth bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can hijack user sessions in MediaWiki by exploiting a session fixation vulnerability in the login page.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Jun 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-5391, GHSA-3wxc-gqjr-6mh6

## What is CVE-2012-5391?

CVE-2012-5391 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Mediawiki Mediawiki, published on 2 Jun 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Session fixation vulnerability in Special:UserLogin in MediaWiki before 1.18.6, 1.19.x before 1.19.3, and 1.20.x before 1.20.1 allows remote attackers to hijack web sessions via the session_id.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-5391?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mediawiki Mediawiki.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-5391?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-5391 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-5391 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mediawiki Mediawiki

- [CVE-2023-37303](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-37303/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-29904](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29904/): SQL injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-29906](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29906/): Missing authorization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-28205](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28205/): Business logic in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-28206](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28206/): Missing authorization in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-5391 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-5391 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Mediawiki Mediawiki, published on 2 Jun 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-5391 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mediawiki Mediawiki. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5391/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5391/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-5391
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-5391
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-5391

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5391/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.