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CVE Record

CVE-2011-4090: Serendipity before 1.6 has an XSS issue in the karma plugin which may allow privilege escalation.

Serendipity before 1.6 has an XSS issue in the karma plugin which may allow privilege escalation.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Serendipity versions before 1.6 contain a cross-site scripting issue in the karma plugin. The reported impact includes possible privilege escalation, so an attacker may be able to abuse a user’s browser session if vulnerable content is processed. The source bundle does not provide CVSS, detailed prerequisites, or confirmed exploitation.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted legacy-application risk. It is not listed as actively exploited, but XSS with possible privilege escalation can affect administrative trust and site integrity if old Serendipity systems remain exposed.

Technical view

CVE-2011-4090 affects Serendipity before 1.6. The issue is XSS in the karma plugin with possible privilege escalation. No CWE, CVSS vector, exploit chain, or package-specific remediation details are included in the provided sources beyond the affected version boundary.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to legacy Serendipity installations earlier than 1.6, especially where the karma plugin is installed or enabled. Internet-facing blogs or administrator-accessible deployments should be prioritized for review.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV is false. Public references identify the vulnerability class and affected version range, but do not provide enough evidence to confirm exploit maturity or real-world abuse.

Researcher notes

Evidence is sparse. The strongest facts are the product, affected range, XSS location, and possible privilege escalation. Avoid assuming exploitability details, authentication requirements, or exact fixed packages without consulting the linked trackers or vendor release material.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory Serendipity deployments and identify versions earlier than 1.6.
  • Check whether the karma plugin is installed or enabled.
  • Upgrade Serendipity to 1.6 or later where applicable.
  • Review vendor or distribution guidance for package-specific remediation.
  • Restrict administrative access until vulnerable systems are remediated.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm the deployed Serendipity version on each instance.
  • Verify whether the karma plugin exists and is active.
  • Review web logs for suspicious requests to karma plugin paths.
  • Confirm remediation by documenting version 1.6 or later.
  • Check Debian and Red Hat tracker status if using packaged builds.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

description · low confidence lookup

Privilege behavior lookup

The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2011-4090 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
serendipityserendipitybefore 1.6Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.