CVE-2026-8445: XSS (CVSS 9.8)

Description

justhtml versions <= 1.11.0 (fixed in 1.12.0) do not sufficiently escape HTML-significant characters (angle brackets) in text nodes when converting a parsed document to Markdown via to_markdown(). While a small set of Markdown metacharacters are escaped, characters such as < and > are preserved, so untrusted input that is safe in to_html() — including entity-decoded text (e.g. <script>) or text from RCDATA/RAWTEXT-parsed elements like <title>, <textarea>, <noscript>, and <plaintext> — can be emitted as raw HTML in the Markdown output, enabling a sanitizer bypass and potential cross-site scripting when that output is rendered.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

9.8

CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0038

Probability of exploitation

0.32%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-79 Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

References

Other References

https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/security/advisories/GHSA-3rcm-vjrc-p45j https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/justhtml-before-sanitizer-bypass-via-markdown https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/security/advisories/GHSA-3rcm-vjrc-p45j

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-8445? +

justhtml versions <= 1.11.0 (fixed in 1.12.0) do not sufficiently escape HTML-significant characters (angle brackets) in text nodes when converting a parsed document to Markdown via to_markdown(). While a small set of Markdown metacharacters are escaped, characters such as < and > are preserved, so untrusted input that is safe in to_html() — including entity-decoded text (e.g. <script>) or text from RCDATA/RAWTEXT-parsed elements like <title>, <textarea>, <noscript>, and <plaintext> — can be emitted as raw HTML in the Markdown output, enabling a sanitizer bypass and potential cross-site scripting when that output is rendered. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

How severe is CVE-2026-8445? +

CVE-2026-8445 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8 out of 10, rated CRITICAL. This is a critical vulnerability that should be patched immediately. The EPSS score is 0.0038, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-8445? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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