Vulnerability Database

352,427

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2026-48761 — symfony / html-sanitizer

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Description

Symfony\Component\HtmlSanitizer\Visitor\AttributeSanitizer\UrlAttributeSanitizer::getSupportedAttributes() enumerates the attribute names whose values are scrubbed through UrlSanitizer::sanitize() (scheme and host allow-lists, javascript: rejection, BiDi check, etc.). The list is ['src', 'href', 'lowsrc', 'background', 'ping', 'action', 'formaction', 'poster', 'cite']. Other URL-bearing attributes are absent: <object data=…>, <applet codebase=…>, <applet archive=…> and <object archive=…>, <iframe longdesc=…> and <img longdesc=…>. When an integrator opts these elements/attributes in via allowElement('object', ['data']), allowElement('applet', ['codebase']), etc., or via allowAttribute(), no URL sanitization runs: data="javascript:alert(1)" and similar payloads ship through unchanged into the output, enabling stored XSS.

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=…"> is the same class of bug routed differently: the URL is embedded inside a multi-field content attribute that the per-attribute sanitizer cannot detect from the attribute name alone. Integrators who enable <meta> with the content attribute (e.g. via allowStaticElements()) see content="0; url=javascript:alert(1)" pass through, producing a refresh-driven navigation to a javascript: URL.

Default configurations are not affected: <object>, <applet> and <iframe> are not in W3CReference::BODY_ELEMENTS and <meta> requires an explicit opt-in to <head> context. The vulnerability surface is integrators who explicitly allow any of those elements together with the listed URL-bearing attributes.

Resolution

UrlAttributeSanitizer now also routes data, codebase, archive and longdesc through UrlSanitizer::sanitize(). A new MetaRefreshAttributeSanitizer registered as a default attribute sanitizer detects the <delay>; url=<url> syntax inside <meta content>, sanitizes the embedded URL, and drops the attribute if the URL is rejected; non-refresh meta content values are passed through unchanged.

The patches for this issue are available here for branch 6.4 (and forward-ported to 7.4, 8.0 and 8.1).

Credits

Symfony would like to thank Scott Arciszewski (Trail of Bits) for reporting the issue and Nicolas Grekas for providing the fix.

No technical information available.

Frequently Asked Questions

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CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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