Apache Wicket up to 8.19.0 ExternalLink cross site scripting

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apache Wicket up to 8.19.0. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component ExternalLink. Executing a manipulation can lead to cross site scripting. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-84231. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apache Wicket up to 8.19.0. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects some unknown processing of the component ExternalLink. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a cross site scripting vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-79. The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. As an impact it is known to affect integrity. CVE summarizes:

Improper neutralization of input during web page generation in Apache Wicket. org.apache.wicket.markup.html.link.ExternalLink builds a JavaScript click handler and writes it into the tag's onclick attribute whenever the markup tag the component is bound to is not an a, link or area element. The URL held in the component's model is concatenated into a single-quoted JavaScript string literal in that handler without being escaped for that context. The same happens on the neighbouring branch, taken when popup settings are attached, where the value is concatenated into the window.open() call built by org.apache.wicket.markup.html.link.PopupSettings#getPopupJavaScript(). The only escaping applied is the markup escaping that every attribute value receives as the tag is written, which replaces an apostrophe with a character reference. A browser decodes character references in an attribute value before it compiles the event handler, so the apostrophe is restored, closes the string literal, and the rest of the model value is executed as script in the application's origin. An application is affected where it binds an ExternalLink to a markup tag that is not an anchor, such as a button or a span, and the URL in the model holds data an attacker can influence, which is the ordinary use of the component rather than a misuse of it. Nothing runs until a user activates the element. This issue affects Apache Wicket: from 8.0.0 through 8.19.0. Users of Apache Wicket 7.x or older, which are no longer supported, should upgrade to a supported version. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 8.20.0, which fixes the issue.

The advisory is available at lists.apache.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-84231 since 09/01/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/01/2026). This vulnerability is assigned to T1059.007 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• Apache

Name

• Wicket

Version

• 8.0
• 8.1
• 8.2
• 8.3
• 8.4
• 8.5
• 8.6
• 8.7
• 8.8
• 8.9
• 8.10
• 8.11
• 8.12
• 8.13
• 8.14
• 8.15
• 8.16
• 8.17
• 8.18
• 8.19.0

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apache.org/

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