Vulnerability Database

365,542

Total vulnerabilities in the database

Rails HTML Sanitizers: Possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations — rails-html-sanitizer

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

Summary

There is a possible cross-site scripting vulnerability in rails-html-sanitizer when the sanitizer is configured to allow an SVG reference element such as <use>. See related GHSA-9wjq-cp2p-hrgf in Loofah, whose SVG local-reference logic rails-html-sanitizer mirrors.

  • Versions affected: >= 1.0.3, < 1.7.1
  • Not affected: < 1.0.3
  • Fixed versions: 1.7.1

Impact

Rails::HTML::PermitScrubber restricts SVG reference elements in the SVG_ALLOW_LOCAL_HREF collection to local, same-document references, but that restriction covered only the xlink:href attribute. Browsers also accept a plain href attribute per the SVG 2 spec, and it was not restricted, so those elements could reference arbitrary external documents. SVG <use> can load and render external SVG content by reference, and if the referenced document is same-origin and contains scripts, it could execute in the context of the sanitized document. <feImage> can load external images, which can be used for tracking.

Applications are impacted only when the allowed tags are overridden to include one of these SVG reference elements, for example <use> or <feImage>. The default allowed tags do not include these SVG elements, so applications using the default configuration are not affected.

Workarounds

Remove the SVG reference elements (such as use and feImage) from the overridden allowed tags. Applications using the default allowed tags are not affected.

References

Credit

Found by maintainer Mike Dalessio during a security audit.

  • Published: Jul 21, 2026
  • Updated: Jul 22, 2026
  • GHSA: GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

No technical information available.

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

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.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

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.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.