VulnerabilityPublished 24 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-52880: gotson komga · Improper Control of Interaction Frequency

Affects gotson komgaSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.2 Medium : upgrade to 1.22.0 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 15:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.2Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 1.22.0

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Jun 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade gotson/komga to 1.22.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubgotson/komga`pkg:github/gotson/komga`Other threats	Affected >=1.8.0 <1.22.0	Fixed in 1.22.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Immediate upgrade to Komga version 1.22.0 or later, which contains the official patch addressing this vulnerability.
Implement strict content validation and sanitization for all EPUB files before adding them to the Komga library to prevent malicious payloads from being introduced.
Restrict administrative access to the Komga server and limit the number of users with admin privileges to reduce the attack surface.
Employ network segmentation and firewall rules to limit Komga server exposure, especially restricting API access to trusted networks or VPNs.
Monitor logs for unusual activity related to EPUB file uploads and admin interactions with the reader to detect potential exploitation attempts.
Educate administrators on the risks of opening untrusted EPUB files within Komga and encourage verification of source integrity.
Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block XSS payloads in HTTP requests/responses related to Komga.
Regularly audit and update all third-party components and dependencies used by Komga to minimize exposure to other vulnerabilities. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on content validation, access control, and monitoring tailored to the specific attack vector involving EPUB files and admin user interaction.

Description

Komga is a media server for comics, mangas, BDs, magazines and eBooks. A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability has been discovered in versions 1.8.0 through 1.21.3 when serving EPUB resources, either directly from the API, or when reading using the epub reader. The vulnerability lets an attacker perform actions on the victim's behalf. When targeting an admin user, this can be combined with controlling a server-side command to achieve arbitrary code execution. For this vulnerability to be exploited, a malicious EPUB file has to be present in a Komga library, and subsequently accessed in the Epub reader by an admin user. Version 1.22.0 contains a patch for the issue.

Impact

For European organizations using Komga as a media server for digital publications, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized administrative actions, including potential arbitrary code execution on the server hosting Komga. This risk is particularly relevant for organizations that manage sensitive or proprietary digital content, such as publishing houses, libraries, educational institutions, and media companies. The compromise of an admin account could lead to data manipulation, unauthorized content distribution, or server takeover, impacting data integrity and potentially confidentiality. Although the vulnerability requires user interaction by an admin, social engineering or insider threats could facilitate exploitation. The medium CVSS score suggests moderate risk, but the possibility of chaining this XSS with server-side command control elevates the threat level in practice. European organizations with centralized digital content management relying on Komga should be aware of this risk, as exploitation could disrupt operations or lead to intellectual property theft. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks against organizations with strategic digital assets, especially where Komga is deployed in multi-user environments with administrative access.

CWE-799Improper Control of Interaction Frequency (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not properly limit the number or frequency of interactions that it has with an actor, such as the number of incoming requests.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 24 Jun 2025, 20:19 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-799

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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