CVE-2022-23461 in Jodit
Summary
by MITRE • 09/24/2022
Jodit Editor is a WYSIWYG editor written in pure TypeScript without the use of additional libraries. Jodit Editor is vulnerable to XSS attacks when pasting specially constructed input. This issue has not been fully patched. There are no known workarounds.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/23/2022
The CVE-2022-23461 vulnerability affects Jodit Editor, a popular WYSIWYG editor component built with pure TypeScript and designed to operate without external library dependencies. This editor is widely used in web applications for rich text editing capabilities, making it a critical component in many content management systems and web-based applications. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the editor's paste functionality, creating a significant security risk for applications that rely on this component for user-generated content processing.
The technical flaw manifests specifically within the editor's handling of pasted content, where malicious actors can construct specially crafted input that bypasses the editor's security measures. This vulnerability represents a cross-site scripting weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the editor's content processing pipeline. The issue occurs during the paste operation when the editor fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied content before rendering it within the web application context. This flaw is classified as a CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which is a fundamental web application security weakness that directly enables XSS attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it allows attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of the victim's browser session. When users paste malicious content into the Jodit Editor, the injected scripts can perform various malicious activities including stealing session cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, defacing web pages, or conducting further attacks against the application's backend systems. The vulnerability's persistence is particularly concerning as it affects the editor's core functionality, meaning that any application using Jodit Editor for content editing becomes vulnerable to these attacks without proper mitigation. This creates a wide attack surface since the editor is commonly integrated into web applications that handle sensitive user data, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise web applications.
Organizations using Jodit Editor must implement immediate mitigation strategies to protect their applications from exploitation. The most effective approach involves implementing comprehensive input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms that properly escape or remove potentially malicious content before it is processed by the editor. Security measures should include implementing Content Security Policy headers to restrict script execution, employing proper HTML sanitization libraries such as DOMPurify, and ensuring that all user input is validated against strict whitelists before being rendered. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious paste operations, while also monitoring for unusual patterns of content pasting that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's persistence without known workarounds underscores the importance of upgrading to patched versions of the editor as soon as they become available, while also implementing defensive measures to protect against potential exploitation attempts.