GHSA-v8qj-hxv7-mgvv
Open WebUI: Stored XSS in Mermaid Markdown Preview
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | open-webui | < 0.9.6 | 0.9.6 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
## Summary
Open WebUI renders Mermaid blocks from Markdown files in the file preview panel and inserts the generated SVG into the DOM using `innerHTML`.
Because Mermaid is configured with `securityLevel: 'loose'`, attacker-controlled Mermaid content can be rendered unsafely in this flow. A working payload was validated through the Markdown preview path, resulting in JavaScript execution in the victim’s browser under the application origin.
This is a confirmed stored XSS vulnerability reachable through normal product functionality.
## Affected Version
- `main`
- Reproduced on `v0.8.12`
## Affected Code
Mermaid is initialized in permissive mode:
https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/9bd84258d09eefe7bf975878fb0e31a5dadfe0f8/src/lib/utils/index.ts#L1698
The file preview path renders Mermaid output and injects the returned SVG into the DOM:
https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/9bd84258d09eefe7bf975878fb0e31a5dadfe0f8/src/lib/components/chat/FileNav/FilePreview.svelte#L133
## Impact
A successful exploit allows JavaScript execution in the victim’s browser under the Open WebUI origin when a malicious Markdown file is opened in the preview panel.
## PoC
A malicious `.md` file containing the follwowing contents can be used to trigger the bug:
````
```mermaid
flowchart LR
A[click me]
click A href "javascript:alert(document.domain)" "x"
```
````
Steps to reproduce:
1- Create a new chat
2- Enable Code Interpreter and browse and upload the file with `.md` extension.
<img width="331" height="258" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bce2b754-56d1-4da1-90a9-22bcb93269f2" />
3- Clicking on the file, and clicking `click me` should pop an alert
<img width="1103" height="485" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/18754486-799b-434e-a2fc-dd7c09956a29" />
## Remediation
Since `mermaid` has `DOMPurify` as a built-in, it is recommended to use the `strict` mode instead of `loose`.
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-v8qj-hxv7-mgvv
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54011
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-v8qj-hxv7-mgvv
- https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/open-webui/PYSEC-2026-2759.yaml
- https://pypi.org/project/open-webui