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Ckeditor5Application · Ckeditor

CVE-2024-45613

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 43.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
CKEditor 5 is a JavaScript rich-text editor. Starting in version 40.0.0 and prior to version 43.1.1, a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability is present in the CKEditor 5 clipboard package. This vulnerability could be triggered by a specific user action, leading to unauthorized JavaScript code execution, if the attacker managed to insert a malicious content into the editor, which might happen with a very specific editor configuration. This vulnerability only affects installations where the Block Toolbar plugin is enabled and either the General HTML Support (with a configuration that permits unsafe markup) or the HTML Embed plugin is also enabled. A fix for the problem is available in version 43.1.1. As a workaround, one may disable the block toolbar plugin.

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 · high confidence

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in CKEditor 5 clipboard package versions 40.0.0-43.1.1. Exploitation requires Block Toolbar plugin enabled plus either General HTML Support (with unsafe markup) or HTML Embed plugin. Attacker must insert malicious content into the editor to achieve arbitrary JavaScript execution.

MitigationUpgrade CKEditor 5 to version 43.1.1 or later. Alternatively, disable the Block Toolbar plugin as a workaround if upgrade is not immediately feasible.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Ckeditor5Application
Affected:>= 40.0.0, < 43.1.1

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed CKEditor 5 version
    Check the package.json file in your project for the @ckeditor/ckeditor5 package version, or run a package manager command like npm list @ckeditor/ckeditor5 to see the installed version
    Affected if The installed version is 40.0.0 or higher but lower than 43.1.1
  2. Verify Block Toolbar plugin is enabled
    Check your CKEditor configuration for the presence of BlockToolbar in the plugins array or the toolbar configuration. Inspect the editor initialization code where plugins are defined
    Affected if BlockToolbar is present in the active plugin configuration
  3. Check for General HTML Support plugin
    Inspect the plugins configuration for GeneralHtmlSupport (or 'General HTML Support') plugin. If present, examine its configuration for the allowUnsafeHtmlOnReplace property or similar unsafe markup settings
    Affected if General HTML Support plugin is loaded with unsafe markup allowed (configuration allows HTML that the sanitizer would normally block)
  4. Check for HTML Embed plugin
    Inspect the plugins configuration for the presence of HtmlEmbed (or 'HTML Embed') plugin in your CKEditor setup
    Affected if HTML Embed plugin is enabled in the editor configuration

Your environment is affected if you run CKEditor 5 version 40.0.0 through 43.1.0 with Block Toolbar enabled AND either General HTML Support with unsafe markup or HTML Embed plugin active

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 43.1.1 or later
Fixed in 43.1.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade CKEditor 5 to version 43.1.1 or later. Alternatively, disable the Block Toolbar plugin as a workaround if upgrade is not immediately feasible.

Recommended fix High confidence

CKEditor 5 version 43.1.1

  1. Upgrade CKEditor 5 to version 43.1.1 or later
  2. Verify that the Block Toolbar plugin, General HTML Support, and HTML Embed configurations are still needed, or consider disabling the Block Toolbar plugin if those features are not required
  3. Test the editor functionality after upgrade to ensure no regressions
Caveat Check CKEditor 5 release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and 43.1.1

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

Fix this in Ckeditor5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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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-2024-45613 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data