Cross site scripting (XSS) when clicking on an untrusted `<map>` link in Joplin
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- Fix
- Fixed in 2.12.8
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: none
- Automatable: no
- Technical impact: partial
Summary
Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application. A Cross site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in affected versions allows clicking on an untrusted image link to execute arbitrary shell commands. The HTML sanitizer (`packages/renderer/htmlUtils.ts::sanitizeHtml`) preserves `<map>` `<area>` links. However, unlike `<a>` links, the `target` and `href` attributes are not removed. Additionally, because the note preview pane isn't sandboxed to prevent top navigation, links with `target` set to `_top` can replace the toplevel electron page. Because any toplevel electron page, with Joplin's setup, has access to `require` and can require node libraries, a malicious replacement toplevel page can import `child_process` and execute arbitrary shell commands. This issue has been fixed in commit 7c52c3e9a81a52ef1b42a951f9deb9d378d59b0f which is included in release version 2.12.8. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Timeline
- CVE published
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- laurent22 joplin
fixed in 2.12.8