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GHSA-mxm6-v9r6-r94c
Summary
@nuxtjs/mdc renders untrusted markdown (including raw HTML) to a Vue component tree. Across two prior advisories it added a URL/attribute sanitizer to block dangerous links in that HTML: validateProps / validateProp and an unsafeLinkPrefix deny-list (dist/runtime/parser/utils/props.js). The sanitizer runs at parse time (dist/runtime/parser/compiler.js) and parseMarkdown enables raw HTML by default (allowDangerousHtml: true, dist/runtime/parser/options.js), so the sanitizer is the only barrier and it applies with no configuration required.
Two sibling vectors bypass that sanitizer at the default configuration:
-
SVG anchor
xlink:href.validateProponly scheme-checks attributes named exactlyhreforsrc:if (attribute === "href" || attribute === "src") return isAnchorLinkAllowed(value); return true;An
xlink:href(parsed to the hast propertyxLinkHref) is neither, so ajavascript:URL on an SVG<a>is passed through. The renderer maps the property back to the real attribute (MDCRenderer.vue:find(html, "xLinkHref").attributeisxlink:href), so the output element is<a xlink:href="javascript:...">. Clicking it runs the script in the page origin. Plain<a href="javascript:...">is correctly stripped, which is what makes this the un-patched sibling. -
<iframe src="data:text/html,...">.data:text/htmlis present inunsafeLinkPrefix, but the check compares it againsturl.protocol:if (unsafeLinkPrefix.some((prefix) => url.protocol.toLowerCase().startsWith(prefix))) return false;For any data URI
url.protocolis just"data:", so"data:".startsWith("data:text/html")is always false. Everydata:text/*entry in the deny-list is therefore dead code, and<iframe src="data:text/html,<script>...</script>">is allowed (iframe is not in the render-timedangerousTags, which is only["script","base"]). The framed document executes script in an opaque origin. For contrast,srcdocandobjectare blocked, so this is a precise gap rather than a general absence of filtering.
Reproduction
I will attach the zip file for POC, you can simply extract and run ./poc.sh to install mdc and show the poc in the html file.
nuxtjs-mdc-xss_poc.zip
Two zero-argument checks:
sh poc/poc.shinstalls@nuxtjs/mdcand runsparseMarkdown(the documented API) at default. It shows the parsed tree retainsa { xLinkHref: "javascript:..." }andiframe { src: "data:text/html,..." }, while the control payloadshref="javascript:..."andsrcdoc=...are removed by the sanitizer. This isolates the sanitizer bypass deterministically.poc/poc.shalso servespoc/poc.htmlover http (data: iframes and javascript: links are restricted under the file:// origin, so http is used). Open the printed URL and click the blue SVG link. The page contains the exact DOM the renderer produces for those parsed nodes; clicking the SVG link executes script in the page origin (same-origin), and the data:text/html iframe executes on load. The page prints VULNERABLE for each that fires.
Both vectors were confirmed executing in a current Chromium build: the SVG xlink:href link runs script in the document origin on click, and the data:text/html iframe runs script on load.
Suggested fix
In validateProp, scheme-check xlink:href (and the hast xLinkHref) the same way as href/src. In isAnchorLinkAllowed, compare the dangerous MIME-typed entries against the full URL (or href), not against url.protocol, so data:text/html is actually matched; or add iframe to the render-time dangerous-tag set / restrict iframe src schemes.
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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. The attacker needs the user to perform some action, like clicking a link. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data.
Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.
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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