Versions of the package github.com/yuin/goldmark/renderer/html before 1.7.17 are vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting (XSS) due to improper ordering of URL validation and normalization. The renderer validates link destinations using a prefix-based check (IsDangerousURL) before resolving HTML entities. This allows an attacker to bypass protocol filtering by encoding dangerous schemes using HTML5 named character references.
For example, a payload such as javascript:alert(1) is not recognized as dangerous during validation, leading to arbitrary script execution in the context of applications that render the URL.
Attack Parameters
Attack Vector
Network
Can be exploited remotely
Attack Complexity
Low
Easy to exploit
Attack Requirements
None
No additional conditions
Privileges Required
None
No privileges needed
User Interaction
Active
User action required
Impact Assessment
Confidentiality
None
No data leak
Integrity
Low
Partial data modification
Availability
None
No disruption
CVSS Vector v4.0