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Cross-site Scripting (XSS)Weakness · CWE-79

CVE-2026-53606

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
ApostropheCMS is an open-source Node.js content management system, and sanitize-html provides a simple HTML sanitizer with a clear API. Versions of sanitize-html prior to 2.17.5 use `allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes` (default: `['href', 'src', 'cite']`) to gate the `naughtyHref()` function that blocks dangerous URI schemes like `javascript:` and `vbscript:`. The HTML specification defines 10+ attributes that accept URIs (`action`, `formaction`, `data`, `poster`, `background`, `ping`, `xlink:href`, `dynsrc`, `lowsrc`), but none of these are included in the default gate list. When a developer allows any of these attributes in their configuration, `javascript:` URIs pass through completely unmodified, enabling XSS. Version 2.17.5 patches the issue.

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

sanitize-html versions before 2.17.5 only apply URI scheme filtering to href, src, and cite attributes via allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes. Other HTML attributes that accept URIs (action, formaction, data, poster, background, ping, xlink:href, dynsrc, lowsrc) are not protected, allowing javascript: and vbscript: URIs to pass through when developers configure these attributes as allowed, enabling XSS attacks.

MitigationUpgrade sanitize-html to version 2.17.5 or later, which patches the default allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes list to include all URI-accepting attributes.

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

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check sanitize-html package version
    Run 'npm list sanitize-html' or 'cat node_modules/sanitize-html/package.json | grep version' to find the installed version
    Affected if version is lower than 2.17.5
  2. Inspect sanitize-html configuration for allowed attributes
    Review your code where sanitize-html is initialized and look for the 'allowedAttributes' array configuration
    Affected if configuration includes any of: action, formaction, data, poster, background, ping, xlink:href, dynsrc, or lowsrc
  3. Check allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes setting
    Look for 'allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes' in your sanitize-html configuration - this may be explicitly set or using defaults
    Affected if the configuration does NOT include the vulnerable URI attributes (action, formaction, data, poster, background, ping, xlink:href, dynsrc, lowsrc) in this list, leaving them unprotected from javascript: or vbscript: URIs
  4. Verify scheme filtering behavior on vulnerable attributes
    Test by passing HTML with javascript:alert(1) in an allowed attribute (e.g., <form action="javascript:alert(1)">) through sanitize-html and inspect the output
    Affected if the javascript: URI passes through unfiltered in the output

You are affected if sanitize-html version is below 2.17.5 AND your configuration allows any of the URI-accepting attributes (action, formaction, data, poster, background, ping, xlink:href, dynsrc, lowsrc) that are NOT protected by the allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes list.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade sanitize-html to version 2.17.5 or later, which patches the default allowedSchemesAppliedToAttributes list to include all URI-accepting attributes.

Recommended fix High confidence

sanitize-html 2.17.5

  1. Check your project's package.json or package-lock.json to identify the current version of sanitize-html
  2. Update the sanitize-html dependency to version 2.17.5 or later using your package manager (e.g., npm install sanitize-html@^2.17.5 or yarn upgrade sanitize-html@^2.17.5)
  3. Run your test suite to verify the upgrade does not break existing functionality
  4. Redeploy your application to ensure the patched version is running in production

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,340
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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-2026-53606 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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