CVE-2018-25246 Wikipedia 12.0 Denial of Service via Search
Unauthenticated attackers can crash the Wikipedia web application by submitting oversized input through the search functionality.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2018-25246?
CVE-2018-25246 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wikipedia, published on 4 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Wikipedia 12.0 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to crash the application by submitting oversized input through the search functionality. Attackers can paste a large buffer of repeated characters into the search bar to trigger an application crash.
Weakness: CWE-306
Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-25246?
How do I fix CVE-2018-25246?
No fix has been published for CVE-2018-25246 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2018-25246 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-25246 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-9gpg-5wc9-g6h7.