# CVE-2025-53485: SecurePoll: Unauthorized access to SetTranslationHandler allows arbitrary text changes

> Unauthenticated users can modify election-related translation text due to missing admin validation in the SecurePoll extension.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 8 Jul 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-95xf-vj6c-3pj7

## What is CVE-2025-53485?

CVE-2025-53485 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Wikimedia Foundation Mediawiki - SecurePoll extension, published on 4 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

SetTranslationHandler.php does not validate that the user is an election admin, allowing any (even unauthenticated) user to change election-related translation text. While partially broken in newer MediaWiki versions, the check is still missing.

This issue affects Mediawiki - SecurePoll 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.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-53485?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-53485?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-53485 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-53485 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-53485 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-53485 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-53485 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Wikimedia Foundation Mediawiki - SecurePoll extension, published on 4 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-53485 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Wikimedia Foundation Mediawiki - SecurePoll extension. 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-2025-53485/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-53485/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-53485
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-53485
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-53485

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-53485/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.