CVE-2026-76984

CVE-2026-76984 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Wicket with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.4. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-79.

Key facts

Description

Improper neutralization of input during web page generation in Apache Wicket. org.apache.wicket.markup.head.MetaDataHeaderItem generates <meta> and <link> header tags. It escaped the attribute names it wrote, but ran the attribute values through a replacement of " with \". A backslash before a double quote means nothing in HTML, so a value containing a double quote ends its own attribute and what follows is parsed as further attributes of the generated tag. An application is affected where it supplies an attribute value holding data an attacker can influence, through addTagAttribute or the forMetaTag and forLinkTag factory methods. A value may be given as an IModel, so it is not necessarily a literal. There is no setting to change; an application can only avoid supplying a value that contains a double quote. Note that these values have never been escaped effectively: before the change released in 6.24.0, 7.4.0 and 8.0.0 they were written with no escaping at all. This issue affects Apache Wicket: from 8.0.0 through 8.18.0, from 9.0.0 through 9.23.0, from 10.0.0 through 10.10.0. Older, unsupported releases from 6.17.0 onwards are also affected. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 8.19.0, 9.24.0 or 10.11.0, which fix the issue.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-76984?
Improper neutralization of input during web page generation in Apache Wicket. org.apache.wicket.markup.head.MetaDataHeaderItem generates <meta> and <link> header tags. It escaped the attribute names it wrote, but ran the attribute values through a replacement of " with \". A backslash before a double quote means nothing in HTML, so a value containing a double quote ends its own attribute and what follows is parsed as further attributes of the generated tag. An application is affected where it supplies an attribute value holding data an attacker can influence, through addTagAttribute or the forMetaTag and forLinkTag factory methods. A value may be given as an IModel, so it is not necessarily a literal. There is no setting to change; an application can only avoid supplying a value that contains a double quote. Note that these values have never been escaped effectively: before the change released in 6.24.0, 7.4.0 and 8.0.0 they were written with no escaping at all. This issue affects Apache Wicket: from 8.0.0 through 8.18.0, from 9.0.0 through 9.23.0, from 10.0.0 through 10.10.0. Older, unsupported releases from 6.17.0 onwards are also affected. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 8.19.0, 9.24.0 or 10.11.0, which fix the issue.
How severe is CVE-2026-76984?
CVE-2026-76984 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.4, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is low, integrity low, and availability none.
Is CVE-2026-76984 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (41st percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2026-76984?
CVE-2026-76984 affects Apache Wicket. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2026-76984?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2026-76984 published?
CVE-2026-76984 was published on 2026-08-31 and last updated on 2026-09-01.

References

Affected products (1)

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