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Rails Html SanitizersApplication · Rubyonrails

CVE-2022-32209

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.4.3 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
# Possible XSS Vulnerability in Rails::Html::SanitizerThere is a possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of Rails::Html::Sanitizer.This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2022-32209.Versions Affected: ALLNot affected: NONEFixed Versions: v1.4.3## ImpactA possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of Rails::Html::Sanitizer may allow an attacker to inject content if the application developer has overridden the sanitizer's allowed tags to allow both `select` and `style` elements.Code is only impacted if allowed tags are being overridden. This may be done via application configuration:```ruby# In config/application.rbconfig.action_view.sanitized_allowed_tags = ["select", "style"]```see https://guides.rubyonrails.org/configuring.html#configuring-action-viewOr it may be done with a `:tags` option to the Action View helper `sanitize`:```<%= sanitize @comment.body, tags: ["select", "style"] %>```see https://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionView/Helpers/SanitizeHelper.html#method-i-sanitizeOr it may be done with Rails::Html::SafeListSanitizer directly:```ruby# class-level optionRails::Html::SafeListSanitizer.allowed_tags = ["select", "style"]```or```ruby# instance-level optionRails::Html::SafeListSanitizer.new.sanitize(@article.body, tags: ["select", "style"])```All users overriding the allowed tags by any of the above mechanisms to include both "select" and "style" should either upgrade or use one of the workarounds immediately.## ReleasesThe FIXED releases are available at the normal locations.## WorkaroundsRemove either `select` or `style` from the overridden allowed tags.## CreditsThis vulnerability was responsibly reported by [windshock](https://hackerone.com/windshock?type=user).

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-79

Untrusted input is placed into a web page without being neutralised, so an attacker's markup or script executes in another user's browser. That can hijack sessions, capture keystrokes, or silently perform actions as the victim. Fixing it properly means context-aware output encoding everywhere data meets HTML, backed by a content-security policy as a second line of defence.

General guidance for the cross-site scripting (xss) class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Rails Html SanitizersApplication
Affected:< 1.4.3
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 35= 36
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.4.3 or later
Fixed in 1.4.3
Recommended fix High confidence

rails-html-sanitizer v1.4.3 or later

  1. 1. Check if your application overrides sanitized_allowed_tags to include both 'select' and 'style' elements by searching for configurations like: config.action_view.sanitized_allowed_tags = ['select', 'style'] or similar declarations
  2. 2. If your application uses both 'select' and 'style' in allowed tags, upgrade the rails-html-sanitizer gem to version 1.4.3 or later by running: gem install rails-html-sanitizer -v 1.4.3 (or add to Gemfile: gem 'rails-html-sanitizer', '~> 1.4.3')
  3. 3. Run bundle update rails-html-sanitizer to update dependencies
  4. 4. Test that the sanitize helper still functions correctly after the upgrade
  5. 5. Alternatively, as an immediate workaround before upgrading, remove either 'select' or 'style' from your allowed tags configuration to break the attack vector
Caveat Minor version upgrade should not introduce breaking changes, but test all sanitization functionality after upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-32209 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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