Every CVE Search/ Get API key

CVE-2023-40013

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in external-svg-loader

7.1 HighFix available

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.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

Exploit likelihood

0.56%Up 0.5 points since Aug 15, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 7.1

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in external-svg-loader

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.

Record
CVE-2023-40013
CVSS 3.1
7.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Weakness
CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2379 7.1

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.

Record
EUVD-2023-2379
CVSS 3.1
7.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-xc2r-jf2x-gjr8 9.8

external-svg-loader Cross-site Scripting vulnerability

Summary

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 XSS.

Details

When trying to sanitize the svg the lib removes event attributes such as onmouseover, onclick but the list of events is not exhaustive. Here's a list of events not removed by svg-loader. onafterscriptexecute, onbeforecopy, onbeforecut, onbeforescriptexecute, onbeforetoggle, onbegin, onbounce, onend, onfinish, onfocusin, onfocusout, onmousewheel, onpointerrawupdate, onrepeat, onsearch, onshow, onstart, ontoggle(popover), ontouchend, ontouchmove, ontouchstart As you can see in the POC we can use onbegin in animate tag to execute JS code without needing to add data-js="enabled".

PoC

<svg version="1.1" baseProfile="full" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <animate onbegin=alert(1) attributeName=x dur=1s>
</svg>

<html>
    <head>
        <script src="./dist/svg-loader.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <svg data-src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiIGJhc2VQcm9maWxlPSJmdWxsIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPgogIDxwb2x5Z29uIGlkPSJ0cmlhbmdsZSIgcG9pbnRzPSIwLDAgMCw1MCA1MCwwIiBmaWxsPSIjMDA5OTAwIiBzdHJva2U9IiMwMDQ0MDAiLz4KICA8YW5pbWF0ZSBvbmJlZ2luPWFsZXJ0KDEpIGF0dHJpYnV0ZU5hbWU9eCBkdXI9MXM+Cjwvc3ZnPgo="></svg>
    </body>
</html>

Impact

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.

Record
GHSA-xc2r-jf2x-gjr8
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 7.1

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.

Record
CVE-2023-40013
CVSS 3.1
7.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
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-79
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.1

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in external-svg-loader

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.

Record
CVE-2023-40013
CVSS 3.1
7.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Weakness
CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-xc2r-jf2x-gjr8 9.8

external-svg-loader Cross-site Scripting vulnerability

Summary

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 XSS.

Details

When trying to sanitize the svg the lib removes event attributes such as onmouseover, onclick but the list of events is not exhaustive. Here's a list of events not removed by svg-loader. onafterscriptexecute, onbeforecopy, onbeforecut, onbeforescriptexecute, onbeforetoggle, onbegin, onbounce, onend, onfinish, onfocusin, onfocusout, onmousewheel, onpointerrawupdate, onrepeat, onsearch, onshow, onstart, ontoggle(popover), ontouchend, ontouchmove, ontouchstart As you can see in the POC we can use onbegin in animate tag to execute JS code without needing to add data-js="enabled".

PoC

<svg version="1.1" baseProfile="full" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <animate onbegin=alert(1) attributeName=x dur=1s>
</svg>

<html>
    <head>
        <script src="./dist/svg-loader.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <svg data-src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiIGJhc2VQcm9maWxlPSJmdWxsIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPgogIDxwb2x5Z29uIGlkPSJ0cmlhbmdsZSIgcG9pbnRzPSIwLDAgMCw1MCA1MCwwIiBmaWxsPSIjMDA5OTAwIiBzdHJva2U9IiMwMDQ0MDAiLz4KICA8YW5pbWF0ZSBvbmJlZ2luPWFsZXJ0KDEpIGF0dHJpYnV0ZU5hbWU9eCBkdXI9MXM+Cjwvc3ZnPgo="></svg>
    </body>
</html>

Impact

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.

Record
GHSA-xc2r-jf2x-gjr8
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-79
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
external-svg-loader
npm
before 1.6.9
1.6.9

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliases, publishedEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

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

In short

CVE-2023-40013 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.1) in Shubhamjain Svg-loader, published August 14, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.56%, the 46th percentile. Fixed in external-svg-loader 1.6.9.

References

MoveEnter Open