# CVE-2022-21710: Cross-site Scripting in ShortDescription extension

> An attacker can inject malicious scripts via wikitext in the ShortDescription extension, potentially executing code in victim browsers.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **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:** No
- **Published:** 24 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 22 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mgcp-qw2r-6832

## What is CVE-2022-21710?

CVE-2022-21710 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in StarCitizenTools mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription, published on 24 Jan 2022. 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

ShortDescription is a MediaWiki extension that provides local short description support. A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in versions prior to 2.3.4. On a wiki that has the ShortDescription enabled, XSS can be triggered on any page or the page with the action=info parameter, which displays the shortdesc property. This is achieved using the wikitext `{{SHORTDESC:<img src=x onerror=alert()>}}`. This issue has a patch in version 2.3.4.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-21710?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mediawiki Shortdescription.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-21710?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-21710 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-21710 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-21710 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-21710 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-21710 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in StarCitizenTools mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription, published on 24 Jan 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-21710 exists.

Affected product: StarCitizenTools mediawiki-extensions-ShortDescription. 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-2022-21710/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21710/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-21710
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21710
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-21710

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21710/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.