rails-html-sanitizer: Possible XSS vulnerability with certain configurations
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Active
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Cross-site scripting
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-79.
Summary
rails-html-sanitizer is responsible for sanitizing HTML fragments in Rails applications. From 1.0.3 until 1.7.1, Rails::HTML::PermitScrubber restricted SVG reference elements in SVG_ALLOW_LOCAL_HREF only when they used xlink:href, even though browsers also accept the plain href attribute. Applications with non-default allowed tags that included SVG use or feImage elements could therefore permit external references; a same-origin external SVG referenced by use could execute scripts in the sanitized document's context, while feImage could load external images for tracking. Applications using the default allowed tags are not affected. This issue is fixed in version 1.7.1.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rails | rails-html-sanitizer | 1.0.3 to before 1.7.1 | 1.7.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | rails-html-sanitizer (RubyGems) | 1.0.3 to before 1.7.1 | 1.7.1 | Patch available | GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7 |
- rails-html-sanitizer VendorRails Affected 1.0.3 to before 1.7.1 Fixed in 1.7.1 Patch available CNA
- rails-html-sanitizer (RubyGems) Vendor— Affected 1.0.3 to before 1.7.1 Fixed in 1.7.1 Patch available GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7
Remediation
- Fix · CNA rails-html-sanitizer (rails) Fixed in 1.7.1
- Fix · GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7 rails-html-sanitizer (RubyGems) Fixed in 1.7.1 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Satellite 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-73648
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7
References
Other 5
- https://github.com/rails/rails-html-sanitizer/security/advisories/GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7
- https://github.com/rails/rails-html-sanitizer/pull/223
- https://github.com/rails/rails-html-sanitizer/commit/74dcb8053e6da9921246ce71b06ad9fd65b19586
- https://github.com/rails/rails-html-sanitizer/releases/tag/v1.7.1
- https://github.com/rails/rails-html-sanitizer
More Rails vulnerabilities
- TI-2014-00124 Directory traversal vulnerability in actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb in the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2019-03828 Path traversal in Rails https://github.com/rails/rails KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2016-00672 Directory traversal vulnerability in Action View in Ruby on Rails before 3.2.22.1, 4.0.x… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2019-03830 Command injection in Rails https://github.com/rails/rails CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-47043 Action Pack: Possible arbitrary file read and remote code execution in Active Storage variant processing CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.5
- TI-2025-18040 Command injection in Rails activestorage CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
Sources
- CVE-2026-73648 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-73648 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cj75-f6xr-r4g7 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-73648 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences