CVE-2026-61784: xhtml-purifier has HTML attribute-injection (sanitizer bypass) that leads to XSS
xhtml-purifier does not HTML-entity-encode attribute values when serializing its sanitized output. In attributeString() (XHTMLPurifier.js, around line 148) the attribute value is concatenated directly into a double-quoted attribute without encoding. As a result, an attacker-controlled value in any allowed attribute (class, style, title, alt, src, href) can include a double-quote character to break out of the attribute and inject an additional attribute, such as a JavaScript event handler (for example onmouseover or onerror). The injected handler survives sanitization and executes when the output is rendered, which is a sanitizer bypass leading to cross-site scripting. The fix HTML-entity-encodes attribute values before serialization.
References
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-j8r4-32c5-33rc
- github.com/cstigler/node-xhtml-purifier/commit/21d461ad23e7bc9b3073693d5b51b9b8662044d3
- github.com/cstigler/node-xhtml-purifier/pull/6
- github.com/cstigler/node-xhtml-purifier/releases/tag/v0.4.3
- github.com/cstigler/node-xhtml-purifier/security/advisories/GHSA-j8r4-32c5-33rc
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-61784
Code Behaviors & Features
Detect and mitigate CVE-2026-61784 with GitLab Dependency Scanning
Secure your software supply chain by verifying that all open source dependencies used in your projects contain no disclosed vulnerabilities. Learn more about Dependency Scanning →