GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m

Suggest an improvement
Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/10/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m
Aliases
Published
2026-10-20T18:03:22Z
Modified
2026-10-20T18:15:04Z
Severity
  • 5.3 (Medium) CVSS_V4 - CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N CVSS Calculator
Summary
ApostropheCMS sanitize-html: nonTextTags discard region ends early on an implied close, letting <noscript> content render
Details

Summary

sanitize-html discards the content of every element in nonTextTags. It delimits that region using htmlparser2's close events, and ignores the isImplied flag htmlparser2 passes it. Closing a still-open ancestor from inside a <noscript> makes htmlparser2 unwind its stack past the noscript; the synthetic implied close it emits on the way ends the discard region early, and everything after it is treated as ordinary body content.

A browser with scripting enabled parses <noscript> content as raw text, so the same markup renders as inert text there. The sanitizer therefore emits elements the page itself would not have.

Reproduction

const sanitizeHtml = require("sanitize-html");

sanitizeHtml('<div><noscript></div><img src="http://evil.test/t.gif"></noscript>', {
  allowedTags: ["div", "img"],
  allowedAttributes: { img: ["src"] },
  nonTextTags: ["script", "style", "textarea", "option", "noscript"],
});
// => '<div></div><img src="http://evil.test/t.gif" />'

Chrome, given the same input, renders no <img> — the whole payload is raw text inside the unclosed <noscript>. Verified with Playwright, srcdoc into an iframe so the scripting flag is on.

A <![CDATA[ variant hides the opening tag from the parser entirely and has the same effect:

<p>Hi</p><![CDATA[ x > <noscript>]]><a href="…">Reset your password</a><img src="…beacon.gif"></noscript>

htmlparser2 runs a CDATA token to ]]>; Chrome ends a bogus comment at the first >, so the <noscript> after it is real to the browser and invisible to the parser.

Where the behaviour is

index.js:

  • :154 — nonTextTagsArray (the default list, ['script','style','textarea','option','xmp']).
  • :638 — onclosetag: function (name, isImplied) — receives the flag.
  • :644 — skipTextDepth-- — decrements without consulting isImplied.

Suggested fix

Do not end a discard region on an implied close. htmlparser2 already distinguishes them; the flag is passed and discarded. Something close to:

onclosetag: function (name, isImplied) {
  if (skipText) {
    if (isImplied) return;   // an implied close must not end the region
    skipTextDepth--;
    …
Database specific
{
    "cwe_ids":  [
        "CWE-79"
    ],
    "github_reviewed":  true,
    "github_reviewed_at":  "2026-10-20T18:03:22Z",
    "nvd_published_at":  null,
    "severity":  "MODERATE"
}
References

Affected packages

npm / sanitize-html

Package

Name
sanitize-html
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/sanitize-html

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
2.18.0

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/10/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m.json"