backpack/crud security advisory

CVE-2026-54181: Laravel Backpack CRUD: Stored XSS in the color column — the @if($column['escaped']) branches are inverted

CVE-2026-54181 is a medium-severity stored XSS vulnerability in the PHP package backpack/crud (CVSS 5.4), published 14 September 2026. It is fixed in 6.8.14 and 7.0.38, one per release line; earlier versions on each line are affected. Exploiting it needs a low-privilege user account.

medium 5.4 published 2026-09-14 · updated 2026-09-30

Affected versions: >= 6.0.0, < 6.8.14
>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.38
Fixed in: 6.8.14, 7.0.38
Newest release: 7.1.24
Severity: Medium · CVSS 5.4
Type: Stored cross-site scripting (XSS)
CWE-79, CWE-1023
Exploited in the wild: Not on the CISA KEV list
checked 2026-11-04

Is your backpack/crud version affected?

Run composer show backpack/crud in your project, then enter the version. We check it against this and every other known backpack/crud advisory.

Who can exploit CVE-2026-54181

Access: A normal, low-privilege user account in the app.
Interaction: A user also has to do something, such as open a link or a page the attacker prepared.

CVSS vector (scored by GitHub): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Your app is only exposed if it uses the affected part of backpack/crud. The advisory below says which part that is. If you are not sure, upgrade anyway: it costs less than finding out.

How to fix CVE-2026-54181 in backpack/crud

Find the installed version: composer show backpack/crud. If you never required it yourself, composer why backpack/crud shows which package pulls it in.
Update it: composer update backpack/crud --with-all-dependencies. You need the fixed version for your release line (6.8.14 and 7.0.38).
If Composer will not go that high, your composer.json constraint is holding it back. Widen it (for example "backpack/crud": "^7.0.38" if you can take that version), or upgrade the package that requires it.
Run composer audit. It reads the same advisory data and should no longer list CVE-2026-54181.
Commit composer.lock and deploy it. On the server, run composer install --no-dev from the lock file, not composer update.

If you cannot upgrade yet

General hardening for stored XSS issues while the upgrade waits. None of it replaces the fix.

Escape output in your own templates and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline scripts.
Limit who can save the content the advisory names (for example rich text, SVG or form fields).
If your app does not use the affected feature, note that in your audit, but still plan the upgrade.

The CVE-2026-54181 advisory

backpack/crud provides Create, Read, Update & Delete (CRUD) functions for Backpack, a collection of Laravel packages that help users build custom administration panels. From 6.0.0 until 6.8.14 and 7.0.38, src/resources/views/crud/columns/color.blade.php inverts the escaped and raw rendering branches controlled by $column['escaped'], which defaults to true, causing $column['text'] to be rendered unescaped by default. An attacker who can store an unsanitized value in a color column can execute script in the browser of a user who views the CRUD list, including an administrator, with access to the victim's session-backed application capabilities. Exploitation requires write access to the stored color value and a victim viewing the list. This issue is fixed in versions 6.8.14 and 7.0.38.

Description from the CVE record, published by GitHub (the CVE Numbering Authority), via the NVD entry for CVE-2026-54181. Advisory title: “Laravel Backpack CRUD: Stored XSS in the color column — the @if($column['escaped']) branches are inverted”.

References

GitHub advisory GHSA-mmg4-322v-6jvc github.com
Fix commit 608652b github.com
Fix commit 76c3a6e github.com
Pull request #5992 github.com
Pull request #5994 github.com
Release 6.8.14 github.com
Release 7.0.38 github.com

Other backpack/crud advisories

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Where this data comes from

Affected and fixed versions: the Packagist security advisories API (GitHub Advisory Database and FriendsOfPHP), the same data composer audit uses. Synced 2026-11-03.
Description, score, weakness and references: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Exploited-in-the-wild status: the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, checked 2026-11-04.
Compiled by Daniel Lasek at Laskyr from the sources above. The summary, “who can exploit it”, “how to fix it” and hardening sections are our plain-English reading of the record and are generated from it. The quoted description is the record's own text. Spot an error? Tell us.