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XSS is possible due to unhandled attribute value encoding and no control of href values

High
gurgunday published GHSA-vvhj-v88f-5gxr Jun 10, 2024

Package

npm ghtml (npm)

Affected versions

<2.0.0

Patched versions

2.0.0

Description

Summary

It is possible to introduce user-controlled JavaScript code and trigger a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in some cases.

Actions Taken

  • Updated the documentation to clarify that while ghtml escapes characters with special meaning in HTML, it does not provide comprehensive protection against all types of XSS attacks in every scenario. This aligns with the approach taken by other template engines. Developers should be cautious and take additional measures to sanitize user input and prevent potential vulnerabilities. More reading: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Cross_Site_Scripting_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html
  • The backtick character (`) is now also escaped to prevent the creation of strings in most cases where a malicious actor somehow gains the ability to write JavaScript. This does not provide comprehensive protection either.

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L

CVE ID

CVE-2024-37166

Weaknesses

Credits