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GHSA-ff6c-w6qf-7xqc
No affected components available
Summary
The CSS Parser gem does not validate HTTPS connections, allowing a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacker to inject or modify CSS content when stylesheets are loaded via HTTPS. The connection is established with OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE, meaning any HTTPS certificate—even entirely untrusted—will be accepted without validation.
Details
In lib/css_parser/parser.rb, the HTTP client sets:
https://github.com/premailer/css_parser/blob/3f91e8db7547fac50ab50cb7f9920f785f722740/lib/css_parser/parser.rb#L646
http.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
As a result, the library does not validate the authenticity of HTTPS connections and does not protect against man-in-the-middle attacks. Any attacker in a position to intercept network traffic can inject or modify CSS loaded via HTTPS URLs without detection or warning.
PoC
- Set up a test Ruby project that uses the CSS Parser gem and loads an external stylesheet over HTTPS.
- Use a local proxy (such as mitmproxy or Burp Suite) to intercept outgoing HTTPS requests.
- Present a fake self-signed certificate to the client.
- Inject custom CSS into the intercepted HTTPS response.
The request will succeed and the injected CSS will be delivered to the application, as the connection is not validated.
References
https://github.com/premailer/css_parser/issues/185
Impact
Applications using CSS Parser to load remote stylesheets over HTTPS are vulnerable to CSS injection and content manipulation, regardless of the trust status of the remote server. All users who use CSS Parser to fetch external CSS over HTTPS may be impacted.
Credit
This vulnerability was uncovered by @JLLeitschuh of the @braze-inc security team.
The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability can affect other systems as well, not just the initial system. There is a low impact on the integrity of the data.
Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.
The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.
We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.
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