CVE-2026-40479: Kimai has Stored XSS via Incomplete HTML Attribute Escaping in Team Member Widget

CVE-2026-40479 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.4 · Published 2026-04-15

### Summary The client-side `escapeForHtml()` function in `KimaiEscape.js`, introduced in commit `89bfa82c` (#2959) to fix a JavaScript XSS vulnerability, only escapes `<`, `>`, and `&` but does not escape `"` (double quote) or `'` (single quote). When user-controlled data (profile alias) is placed in an HTML attribute context (`title="__DISPLAY__"`) via the team member form prototype and rendered through `innerHTML`, the missing quote escaping allows HTML attribute injection, resulting in Stored XSS.

### Details Incomplete security patch. The `escapeForHtml()` function was meant to prevent XSS but missed quote characters, which are critical for HTML attribute context escaping.

**Vulnerable code** — `assets/js/plugins/KimaiEscape.js:29-33`: ```javascript const tagsToReplace = { '&': '&amp;', '<': '&lt;', '>': '&gt;', // MISSING: '"': '&quot;' // MISSING: "'": '&#039;' }; ```

**Affected code files**: - `assets/js/plugins/KimaiEscape.js:24-38` — incomplete escape function - `assets/js/forms/KimaiTeamForm.js:77,86` — replacement + innerHTML - `templates/macros/widgets.html.twig:126` — `title="{{ tooltip }}"` in avatar macro - `templates/form/blocks.html.twig:104` — `{{ widgets.avatar('__INITIALS__', '__COLOR__', '__DISPLAY__') }}`

### PoC [poc.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/26537515/poc.zip)

Please extract the uploaded compressed file before proceeding

1. ./setup.sh 2. ./poc_xss.sh

<img width="751" height="155" alt="스크린샷 2026-04-07 오후 9 06 27" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c09a23fb-f60b-49dd-9018-8c723e35b4c4" />

### Impact - Stored XSS: payload persists in the database (user alias field) - Privilege escalation: ROLE_USER injects XSS that executes in ROLE_ADMIN/ROLE_SUPER_ADMIN browser session

Technologies: kimai/kimai (Packagist). Vendors: Packagist.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-40479 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-40479 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-40479?
Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.4, published 15 April 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
kimai/kimai (Packagist) < 2.53.0, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.53.0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-40479?
Yes. kimai/kimai (Packagist): upgrade to 2.53.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-40479?
Check whether you run kimai/kimai (Packagist) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • kimai/kimai (Packagist): upgrade to 2.53.0 or later
    composer require kimai/kimai:^2.53.0

Affected products

  • kimai/kimai (Packagist) < 2.53.0, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.53.0

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-40479
  • GHSA-g82g-m9vx-vhjg

References

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