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CVE-2024-53989· NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

Possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer 1.6.0

rails-html-sanitizer is responsible for sanitizing HTML fragments in Rails applications. There is a possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of Rails::HTML::Sanitizer 1.6.0 when used with Rails >= 7.1.0. A possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of Rails::HTML::Sanitizer may allow an attacker to inject content if HTML5 sanitization is enabled and the application developer has overridden the sanitizer's allowed tags for the the "noscript" element. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.1.

LowCVSS 2.3 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Dec 2, 2024
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.5% · 39th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

9

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
9 / 40 · 2.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.5%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · GitHub_M
2.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
rubyonrailsrails html sanitizers

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • rubyonrails rails html sanitizers1.6.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • rails rails-html-sanitizer

    • >= 1.6.0, < 1.6.1affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
openSUSE:Tumbleweedrubygem-rails-html-sanitizerbefore 1.7.0-1.11.7.0-1.1
RubyGemsrails-html-sanitizerfrom 1.6.0 · before 1.6.11.6.1

Same product

rubyonrails: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2022-32209# Possible XSS Vulnerability in Rails::Html::SanitizerThere is a possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of Rails::Html::Sani
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2022-23517Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in rails-html-sanitizer
    30Monitor
  • CVE-2022-23520rails-html-sanitizer contains an incomplete fix for an XSS vulnerability
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2022-23519Possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2022-23518Improper neutralization of data URIs allows XSS in rails-html-sanitizer
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2024-53988Possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer 1.6.0
    9Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
rails rails-html-sanitizer1.6.1 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
opensuse:rubygem-rails-html-sanitizer1.7.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
RubyGems:rails-html-sanitizer1.6.1Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2024-539850 days apartPossible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer 1.6.0
    9Monitor
  • CVE-2024-539860 days apartPossible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer 1.6.0
    9Monitor
  • CVE-2024-539870 days apartPossible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer 1.6.0
    9Monitor
  • CVE-2024-539880 days apartPossible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations of rails-html-sanitizer 1.6.0
    9Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
P
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Root cause

User content is inserted into the page as HTML. The browser interprets the content as code rather than data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-79 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
commentEl.innerHTML = comment.body;

Fixed

ts
commentEl.textContent = comment.body;

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records