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Stored XSS in HTML export via unescaped attribute-pool values

High
JohnMcLear published GHSA-2jp7-wwpg-3p9w Jun 10, 2026

Package

npm ep_etherpad-lite (npm)

Affected versions

<= 3.2.0

Patched versions

None

Description

Fix: PR #7905 (ether/etherpad).

getHTMLFromAtext in src/node/utils/ExportHtml.ts interpolates values from the exportHtmlAdditionalTagsWithData plugin hook into span data-<k>="<v>" without HTML-attribute escaping. The value comes verbatim from the pad attribute pool, which a pad editor controls via a crafted changeset (only author attributes are validated; moveOpsToNewPool -> AttributePool.putAttrib stores any value). With a bundled plugin that registers the hook (ep_font_color / ep_font_size), an attribute value such as " onload="alert(1) is exported as <span data-color="" onload="alert(1)"> and served as text/html, yielding stored XSS for any collaborator who opens the export.

Fix: escape the name and value via Security.escapeHTMLAttribute. PR #7905 also adds a startup warning when default/placeholder account or SSO credentials are configured (defense-in-depth, non-breaking).

Severity

High

CVE ID

CVE-2026-55090

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. Learn more on MITRE.