---
id: CVE-2026-54261
aliases:
  - GHSA-r6p4-grq7-xm4m
title: 'Wagtail: Improper permission handling in image preview'
summary: 'Wagtail: Improper permission handling in image preview'
severity: medium
cvss: 6.5
cwe:
  - CWE-280
vendor: wagtail
product: wagtail
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - wagtail < 7.0.8
  - 'wagtail >= 7.1, < 7.3.3'
  - 'wagtail >= 7.4, < 7.4.2'
patched:
  - wagtail 7.0.8
  - wagtail 7.3.3
  - wagtail 7.4.2
published: '2026-08-20'
updated: '2026-08-20'
source: GHSA
sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-r6p4-grq7-xm4m'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/advisories/GHSA-r6p4-grq7-xm4m'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54261'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/wagtail/PYSEC-2026-614.yaml
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-r6p4-grq7-xm4m'
tags:
  - ghsa
  - pip
epss: 0.0034
epssPercentile: 0.24735
ingestedAt: '2026-08-20T18:59:54.487Z'
---

## Overview

### Impact
Due to a missing permission check on the image preview endpoint, a user with access to the Wagtail admin can preview any image. The existing data of the image object itself is not exposed. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin.

### Patches
Patched versions have been released as Wagtail 7.0.8, 7.3.3, 7.4.2.

### Workarounds
For sites that cannot easily upgrade to a current supported version, the vulnerability can be patched by adding the following code to `urls.py` URL pattern declarations to override the vulnerable view.

```python
from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
from django.urls import path
from wagtail.admin import urls as wagtailadmin_urls
from wagtail.images.permissions import permission_policy
from wagtail.images.views import preview


def patched_preview(request, image_id, filter_spec):
    image = get_object_or_404(get_image_model(), id=image_id)

    if not permission_policy.user_has_permission_for_instance(request.user, "change", image):
        raise PermissionDenied

    return preview(request, image_id, filter_spec)


urlpatterns = [
    # Example where the CMS admin is at /admin/.
    # Add this before the Wagtail admin URLs registration, with the same sub-path.
    path("admin/images/<int:image_id>/preview/<str:filter_spec>/", patched_preview)
    path("admin/", include(wagtailadmin_urls)),
]
```

### Acknowledgements
Many thanks to @0x1saac and @harshakshit for reporting this issue.


### For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

* Visit Wagtail's [support channels](https://docs.wagtail.org/en/stable/support.html)
* Email us at [security@wagtail.org](mailto:security@wagtail.org) (view our [security policy](https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/policy) for more information).

## Affected packages

- `wagtail < 7.0.8`
- `wagtail >= 7.1, < 7.3.3`
- `wagtail >= 7.4, < 7.4.2`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `wagtail 7.0.8`
- `wagtail 7.3.3`
- `wagtail 7.4.2`