GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m
ApostropheCMS sanitize-html: nonTextTags discard region ends early on an implied close, letting <noscript> content render
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | sanitize-html | < 2.18.0 | 2.18.0 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
## 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
```js
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:
```js
onclosetag: function (name, isImplied) {
if (skipText) {
if (isImplied) return; // an implied close must not end the region
skipTextDepth--;
…
```
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/security/advisories/GHSA-x3q4-9hxx-gx8m
- https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/commit/9500b8b0e1d630d5e07fbb5fd2c25ed0943845ce
- https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/commit/f84fd41cbf6c22eb8d0008fc9c25df1f7130b350
- https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe
- https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/releases/tag/[email protected]