CVE-2026-54259: Wagtail Improper Restriction Handling On Documents Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-h54r-xq46-qwqm
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CVSS 4.3
CWE-280
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-54259 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.3) improper restriction handling on documents vulnerability (CWE-280: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges) affecting Wagtail libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves improper restriction handling on documents and images chosen endpoints. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2.

CVE-2026-54259 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-54259
GHSA Identifier GHSA-h54r-xq46-qwqm
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.3
CWE Classification CWE-280: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges
Affected Product Wagtail
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.3

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-54259

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Wagtail dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

wagtail fixed: 7.0.8 
pip install wagtail>=7.0.8
wagtail fixed: 7.3.3 
pip install wagtail>=7.3.3
wagtail fixed: 7.4.2 
pip install wagtail>=7.4.2
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show wagtail

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-54259, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show wagtail

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Wagtail in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 7.0.8), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show wagtail command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-280: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges, where the product does not handle or incorrectly handles when it has insufficient privileges to access resources or functionality as specified by their permissions. this may cause it to follow unexpected code paths that may leave the product in an invalid state. In Wagtail, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact The Documents and Images chooser's chosen endpoint incorrectly listed items for which the user has not been granted choose permission. A user with access to the Wagtail admin could see the filename and name and URLs of documents and images in those collections. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin. ### Patches Patched versions have been released as Wagtail 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2. ### Workarounds N/A ### Acknowledgements Many thanks to @harshakshit for reporting this issue. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Visit Wagtail's [support channels](https://docs.wagtail.org/en/stable/support.html) * Email us at [security@wagtail.org](mailto:security@wagtail.org) (view our [security policy](https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/policy) for more information).

CVE-2026-54259 Affected Wagtail Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
7.0.87.3.37.4.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
wagtail
pypi/wagtail
PyPI
< 7.0.8
7.0.8
wagtail
pypi/wagtail
PyPI
≥ 7.1
< 7.3.3
7.3.3
wagtail
pypi/wagtail
PyPI
≥ 7.4
< 7.4.2
7.4.2

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/advisories/GHSA-h54r-xq46-qwqm
NVD — CVE-2026-54259 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54259
Wagtail Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/wagtail/PYSEC-2026-612.yaml
Wagtail Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-54259?
CVE-2026-54259 is a security vulnerability in Wagtail involving Improper restriction handling on Documents and Images chosen endpoints under CWE-280: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges.
Which Wagtail versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2 across affected packages: wagtail.
What version fixes CVE-2026-54259?
Upgrading to 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is wagtail affected?
Yes, wagtail is affected in releases prior to 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2. Upgrade your dependency to 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-54259?
CVE-2026-54259 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-54259?
CVE-2026-54259 is classified under CWE-280: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (The product does not handle or incorrectly handles when it has insufficient privileges to access resources or functionality as specified by their permissions. This may cause it to follow unexpected code paths that may leave the product in an invalid state.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-54259?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show wagtail'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-h54r-xq46-qwqm",
  "modified" : "2026-08-20T18:40:09Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-20T18:40:09Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-54259" ],
  "summary" : "Wagtail: Improper restriction handling on Documents and Images chosen endpoints",
  "details" : "### Impact\nThe Documents and Images chooser's chosen endpoint incorrectly listed items for which the user has not been granted choose permission. A user with access to the Wagtail admin could see the filename and name and URLs of documents and images in those collections.\n\nThe vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin.\n\n### Patches\nPatched versions have been released as Wagtail 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2.\n\n### Workarounds\nN/A\n\n### Acknowledgements\nMany thanks to @harshakshit for reporting this issue.\n\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n\n* Visit Wagtail's [support channels](https://docs.wagtail.org/en/stable/support.html)\n* Email us at [security@wagtail.org](mailto:security@wagtail.org) (view our [security policy](https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/policy) for more information).",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "wagtail"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "7.0.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "wagtail"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "7.1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "7.3.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "wagtail"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "7.4"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "7.4.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/advisories/GHSA-h54r-xq46-qwqm"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54259"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/wagtail/PYSEC-2026-612.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-280" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-08-20T18:40:09Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-07-01T22:16:49Z"
  }
}