CVE-2026-76986: wicket XSS — Fix

Description

Improper neutralization of input during web page generation in Apache Wicket. org.apache.wicket.markup.html.form.AbstractSingleSelectChoice, the base class of DropDownChoice, writes the body of the default option — the entry shown when no choice is selected — into the markup as it is, while every other option body in the same select is escaped according to the escape-model-strings setting. The body comes from getNullValidDisplayValue() or getNullKeyDisplayValue(), both of which are protected, so what they return is not necessarily the plain text the default implementation reads from a resource bundle. An application is affected where it overrides one of those methods and returns a value holding data an attacker can influence, or where its own nullValid or null bundle entry holds such a value. The bundles shipped with Wicket contain plain text. RadioChoice overrides getDefaultChoice to emit no default option and is not affected. As a workaround, escape the value in the override. 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 1.5.0 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.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

6.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0056

Probability of exploitation

0.45%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-79 Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
apache	wicket	8.0.0 — 8.19.0
apache	wicket	9.0.0 — 9.24.0
apache	wicket	10.0.0 — 10.11.0

References

Advisories & Patches

https://lists.apache.org/thread/4qltg6wckqz8wbs1f4jzqlc0yccpgvll

Other References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/31/6

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-76986? +

Improper neutralization of input during web page generation in Apache Wicket. org.apache.wicket.markup.html.form.AbstractSingleSelectChoice, the base class of DropDownChoice, writes the body of the default option — the entry shown when no choice is selected — into the markup as it is, while every other option body in the same select is escaped according to the escape-model-strings setting. The body comes from getNullValidDisplayValue() or getNullKeyDisplayValue(), both of which are protected, so what they return is not necessarily the plain text the default implementation reads from a resource bundle. An application is affected where it overrides one of those methods and returns a value holding data an attacker can influence, or where its own nullValid or null bundle entry holds such a value. The bundles shipped with Wicket contain plain text. RadioChoice overrides getDefaultChoice to emit no default option and is not affected. As a workaround, escape the value in the override. 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 1.5.0 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. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-76986? +

CVE-2026-76986 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.1 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0056, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-76986? +

CVE-2026-76986 affects products from apache, specifically: wicket. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-76986? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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CVE-2026-76986