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CVE-2023-22491

gatsby-transformer-remark vulnerable to unsanitized JavaScript code injection

8.1 HighFix available

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.58%Down 0.3 points since Jan 14, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 8.1

gatsby-transformer-remark vulnerable to unsanitized JavaScript code injection

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Record
CVE-2023-22491
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-89, CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-0381 8.1

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Record
EUVD-2023-0381
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7ch4-rr99-cqcw 8.1

gatsby-transformer-remark has possible unsanitized JavaScript code injection

Impact

The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server.

To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. The following payload demonstrates a vulnerable configuration:

---js
((require("child_process")).execSync("id >> /tmp/rce"))
--- 

Patches

A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. The patch introduces a new option, JSFrontmatterEngine which is set to false by default. When setting JSFrontmatterEngine to true, input passed to gatsby-plugin-mdx must be sanitized before processing to avoid a security risk. Warnings are displayed when enabling JSFrontmatterEngine to true or if it appears that the MarkdownRemark input is attempting to use the Frontmatter engine.

Workarounds

If an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing.

We encourage projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

For more information

Email us at [email protected].

Record
GHSA-7ch4-rr99-cqcw
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 8.1

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Record
CVE-2023-22491
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVSS 3.1
5.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-89, CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 8.1

gatsby-transformer-remark vulnerable to unsanitized JavaScript code injection

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Record
CVE-2023-22491
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-89
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-7ch4-rr99-cqcw 8.1

gatsby-transformer-remark has possible unsanitized JavaScript code injection

Impact

The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server.

To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. The following payload demonstrates a vulnerable configuration:

---js
((require("child_process")).execSync("id >> /tmp/rce"))
--- 

Patches

A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. The patch introduces a new option, JSFrontmatterEngine which is set to false by default. When setting JSFrontmatterEngine to true, input passed to gatsby-plugin-mdx must be sanitized before processing to avoid a security risk. Warnings are displayed when enabling JSFrontmatterEngine to true or if it appears that the MarkdownRemark input is attempting to use the Frontmatter engine.

Workarounds

If an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing.

We encourage projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

For more information

Email us at [email protected].

Record
GHSA-7ch4-rr99-cqcw
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-22491 8.1

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the gray-matter npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by disabling the gray-matter JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of gatsby-transformer-remark must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22491
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVSS 3.1
5.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
gatsby-transformer-remark
npm
6.0.0 up to 6.3.2
6.3.2
gatsby-transformer-remark
npm
before 5.25.1
5.25.1
react
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
0.9.4-31.2.0-2build1
None known
react
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.0-31.2.0-3build1
None known
react
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.0-3build21.2.1-1build1
None known
react
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.1-1build21.2.2-1
None known
react
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.2-11.2.2-1build2
None known
react
Ubuntu:25.10
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.2-1build41.2.2-1build5
None known
react
Ubuntu:26.10
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.2-2build41.2.2-2build5
None known
react
Ubuntu:26.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
1.2.2-1build51.2.2-21.2.2-2build11.2.2-2build4
None known

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2023-22491 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.1) in Gatsbyjs Gatsby, published January 11, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.58%, the 47th percentile. Fixed in gatsby-transformer-remark 6.3.2.

References

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