CVE-2023-25572

Cross-Site-Scripting attack on <RichTextField>

// react-admin v4
import * as React from 'react';
import { memo } from 'react';
import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
import get from 'lodash/get';
import Typography from '@material-ui/core/Typography';
import { useRecordContext, sanitizeFieldRestProps, fieldPropTypes } from 'react-admin';
import purify from 'dompurify';

export const removeTags = (input) =>
    input ? input.replace(/<[^>]+>/gm, '') : '';

const RichTextField = memo(
    props => {
        const { className, emptyText, source, stripTags, ...rest } = props;
        const record = useRecordContext(props);
        const value = get(record, source);

        return (
            <Typography
                className={className}
                variant="body2"
                component="span"
                {...sanitizeFieldRestProps(rest)}
            >
                {value == null && emptyText ? (
                    emptyText
                ) : stripTags ? (
                    removeTags(value)
                ) : (
                    <span
                        dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{
                            __html: purify.sanitize(value),
                        }}
                    />
                )}
            </Typography>
        );
    }
);

RichTextField.defaultProps = {
    addLabel: true,
    stripTags: false,
};

RichTextField.propTypes = {
    // @ts-ignore
    ...Typography.propTypes,
    ...fieldPropTypes,
    stripTags: PropTypes.bool,
};

RichTextField.displayName = 'RichTextField';

export default RichTextField;

All React applications built with react-admin and using the <RichTextField> are affected.

<RichTextField> outputs the field value using dangerouslySetInnerHTML without client-side sanitization. If the data isn't sanitized server-side, this opens a possible Cross-Site-Scripting (XSS) attack.

Proof of concept:

import { RichTextField } from 'react-admin';

const record = {
    id: 1,
    body: `
<p>
<strong>War and Peace</strong> is a novel by the Russian author
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy" onclick="document.getElementById('stolendata').value='credentials';">Leo Tolstoy</a>,
published serially, then in its entirety in 1869.
</p>
<p onmouseover="document.getElementById('stolendata').value='credentials';">
It is regarded as one of Tolstoy's finest literary achievements and remains a classic of world literature.
</p>
<img src="x" onerror="document.getElementById('stolendata').value='credentials';" />
`,
};

const VulnerableRichTextField = () => (
    <>
        <RichTextField record={record} source="body" />
        <hr />
        <h4>Stolen data:</h4>
        <input id="stolendata" defaultValue="none" />
    </>
);

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-2023-25572 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 (3.19.12, 4.7.6); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

Versions 3.19.12 and 4.7.6 now use DOMPurify to escape the HTML before outputting it with React and dangerouslySetInnerHTML

1. What is CVE-2023-25572? CVE-2023-25572 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in react-admin (npm), affecting versions < 3.19.12. It is fixed in 3.19.12, 4.7.6. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
2. How severe is CVE-2023-25572? CVE-2023-25572 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 packages are affected by CVE-2023-25572?
   • react-admin (npm) (versions < 3.19.12)
   • ra-ui-materialui (npm) (versions >= 4.0.0, < 4.7.6)
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-25572? Yes. CVE-2023-25572 is fixed in 3.19.12, 4.7.6. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2023-25572 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-25572 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-2023-25572 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-2023-25572?
   • Upgrade react-admin to 3.19.12 or later
   • Upgrade react-admin to 4.7.6 or later
   • Upgrade ra-ui-materialui to 4.7.6 or later
   • Upgrade ra-ui-materialui to 3.19.12 or later