CVE-2023-44390Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Cross-site scripting via unescaped foreign-content text

Published Oct 5, 2023 · Updated Sep 19, 2024

Cross-site scripting in HtmlSanitizer before 8.0.723 and 8.1.0-beta through 8.1.719-beta allows remote attackers to inject JavaScript. DoSanitize fails to encode angle brackets in comments and literal-text nodes before serializing the sanitized DOM, allowing crafted parser state to reconstitute active HTML. Exploitation requires an application to sanitize attacker input while allowing svg or math plus specified raw-text or comment content, and script execution requires a user to render the result; the default configuration is unaffected.

CVSS severity6.1
Medium
EPSS probability0.36%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Cross-site scripting in HtmlSanitizer before 8.0.723 and 8.1.0-beta through 8.1.719-beta allows remote attackers to inject JavaScript. DoSanitize fails to encode angle brackets in comments and literal-text nodes before serializing the sanitized DOM, allowing crafted parser state to reconstitute active HTML. Exploitation requires an application to sanitize attacker input while allowing svg or math plus specified raw-text or comment content, and script execution requires a user to render the result; the default configuration is unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-44390
Published
Oct 5, 2023
Updated
Sep 19, 2024
Vendor
Michael Ganss
Product
HtmlSanitizer
Classifications
CWE-79, T1059.007
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 5, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 19, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 8.0.723
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 8.1.0-beta, < 8.1.722-beta

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Michael Ganss · HtmlSanitizerversion=< 8.0.723; version=>= 8.1.0-beta, < 8.1.722-beta

Published CVSS scores

6.1GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
T1059.007JavaScript/JScript

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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