Medium severity · published Sep 18, 2026
CVE-2026-85271
Open edX Platform: Stored CSS Injection in Email Digest Notifications via Unsanitized Thread Title (incomplete patch of CVE-2026-42857)
6.1
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Open edX Platform enables the authoring and delivery of online learning at any scale. From Redwood until Ulmo and Verawood.1, the add_additional_attributes_to_notifications function in openedx/core/djangoapps/notifications/email/utils.py assigns notification content without sanitizing discussion-title values produced by get_notification_content in openedx/core/djangoapps/notifications/base_notification.py. An enrolled student can place CSS-capable markup in the post_title value supplied by lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/discussions_notifications.py. Digest and batched-email rendering then passes that value through openedx/core/djangoapps/notifications/templates/notifications/digest_content.html as safe HTML, allowing email-open tracking and content spoofing or phishing when another learner opens a CSS-rendering client. The immediate-email path is not affected because it strips title markup and renders a separately sanitized body. This issue is fixed in Ulmo and Verawood.1.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 29% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OP
openedx-platform · openedx
>= release/redwood.1, < release/ulmo.4 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85271
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-85271
github.com
https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/commit/2af03d21b4142e53e375c7f3699b313e92ec5121
github.com
https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/commit/52f2b3bb3e6fac2601c29e8f926c81498d20bb0b
github.com
https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/commit/5eae6e51a8797cd3b87cc132f5de73d52561c4d7
github.com
https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/releases/tag/release/ulmo.4
github.com
https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/releases/tag/release/verawood.1
github.com
https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/security/advisories/GHSA-rv5w-f4r5-h77g
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