GHSA-8JJ7-4V57-FRF5
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-24 20:09 – Updated: 2026-08-24 20:09Summary
The move_plugin admin endpoint does not prevent a plugin from being reparented under itself or one of its own descendants. Doing so creates a cycle in the plugin tree, after which the recursive descendant/ancestor SQL queries loop without terminating, stalling the request worker.
Details
move_plugin (in cms/admin/placeholderadmin.py) accepts a plugin_parent POST parameter and, for an in-placeholder move, sets the plugin's parent to the target without any cycle/ancestor check. If the target parent is a descendant of the moved plugin, the resulting parent_id graph contains a cycle.
Descendant and ancestor traversal is implemented with WITH RECURSIVE CTEs (_get_descendants_cte / _get_ancestors_cte in cms/models/pluginmodel.py) that have no cycle clause or depth limit. On a cyclic tree these recurse indefinitely (PostgreSQL/SQLite) or error at the recursion limit (MySQL). get_descendants() is invoked while building the move response and on subsequent operations on the affected subtree.
Impact
An authenticated staff user with permission to change plugins in at least one placeholder can corrupt that placeholder's plugin tree, causing requests that traverse it (rendering, copy, delete) to hang and consume application workers (denial of service). The tree is also left in a corrupted state.
Requires CMS_PERMISSION/plugin-change permission on a placeholder.
Patches
Fixed in 5.0.8: move_plugin now rejects (HTTP 400) any move that would place a plugin inside itself or one of its descendants, before any tree mutation or traversal.
Workarounds
None. Upgrade is recommended.
Credits
Reported by the security team at the University of Sydney ([@reporter]).
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "django-cms"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "5.0.8"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-54623"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-674",
"CWE-835"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-08-24T20:09:43Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-08-20T18:16:28Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Summary\nThe `move_plugin` admin endpoint does not prevent a plugin from being reparented under itself or one of its own descendants. Doing so creates a cycle in the plugin tree, after which the recursive descendant/ancestor SQL queries loop without terminating, stalling the request worker.\n\n### Details\n`move_plugin` (in `cms/admin/placeholderadmin.py`) accepts a `plugin_parent` POST parameter and, for an in-placeholder move, sets the plugin\u0027s parent to the target without any cycle/ancestor check. If the target parent is a descendant of the moved plugin, the resulting `parent_id` graph contains a cycle.\n\nDescendant and ancestor traversal is implemented with `WITH RECURSIVE` CTEs (`_get_descendants_cte` / `_get_ancestors_cte` in `cms/models/pluginmodel.py`) that have no cycle clause or depth limit. On a cyclic tree these recurse indefinitely (PostgreSQL/SQLite) or error at the recursion limit (MySQL). `get_descendants()` is invoked while building the move response and on subsequent operations on the affected subtree.\n\n### Impact\nAn authenticated staff user with permission to change plugins in at least one placeholder can corrupt that placeholder\u0027s plugin tree, causing requests that traverse it (rendering, copy, delete) to hang and consume application workers (denial of service). The tree is also left in a corrupted state.\n\nRequires `CMS_PERMISSION`/plugin-change permission on a placeholder.\n\n### Patches\nFixed in 5.0.8: `move_plugin` now rejects (HTTP 400) any move that would place a plugin inside itself or one of its descendants, before any tree mutation or traversal.\n\n### Workarounds\nNone. Upgrade is recommended.\n\n### Credits\nReported by the security team at the University of Sydney ([@reporter]).",
"id": "GHSA-8jj7-4v57-frf5",
"modified": "2026-08-24T20:09:43Z",
"published": "2026-08-24T20:09:43Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/django-cms/django-cms/security/advisories/GHSA-8jj7-4v57-frf5"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54623"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/django-cms/django-cms/pull/8645"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/django-cms/django-cms/commit/7642a98ab3170793c0b27b4125dd1f3d318b8a1c"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/django-cms/django-cms"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/django-cms/django-cms/releases/tag/5.0.8"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "django CMS: Plugin move endpoint allows cyclic reparenting (DoS)"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.