CVE-2022-24728

Cross-site Scripting in CKEditor4

Affected packages

The vulnerability has been discovered in the core HTML processing module and may affect all plugins used by CKEditor 4.

For more information

Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments about this advisory.

Acknowledgements

The CKEditor 4 team would like to thank GHSL team member Kevin Backhouse (@kevinbackhouse) for recognizing and reporting this vulnerability.

A potential vulnerability has been discovered in CKEditor 4 HTML processing core module. The vulnerability allowed to inject malformed HTML bypassing content sanitization, which could result in executing JavaScript code. It affects all users using the CKEditor 4 at version < 4.18.0.

Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.

CVE-2022-24728 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (4.18.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

The problem has been recognized and patched. The fix will be available in version 4.18.0.

1. What is CVE-2022-24728? CVE-2022-24728 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in ckeditor4 (npm), affecting versions < 4.18.0. It is fixed in 4.18.0. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
2. How severe is CVE-2022-24728? CVE-2022-24728 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of ckeditor4 are affected by CVE-2022-24728? ckeditor4 (npm) versions < 4.18.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2022-24728? Yes. CVE-2022-24728 is fixed in 4.18.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2022-24728 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-24728 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2022-24728 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2022-24728? Upgrade ckeditor4 to 4.18.0 or later.

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