What is CVE-2024-45389?

CVE-2024-45389 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in pagefind (npm), affecting versions < 1.1.1. It is fixed in 1.1.1. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.

How severe is CVE-2024-45389?

CVE-2024-45389 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (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.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-45389?

pagefind (npm) versions < 1.1.1; @pagefind/default-ui (npm) versions < 1.1.1; @pagefind/modular-ui (npm) versions < 1.1.1.

Is there a fix for CVE-2024-45389?

Yes. CVE-2024-45389 is fixed in 1.1.1. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is CVE-2024-45389 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2024-45389 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.

What actually determines whether CVE-2024-45389 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.

CVE-2024-45389 in pagefind

Q: How severe is CVE-2024-45389?

CVE-2024-45389 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (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.

Q: Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-45389?

pagefind (npm) versions < 1.1.1; @pagefind/default-ui (npm) versions < 1.1.1; @pagefind/modular-ui (npm) versions < 1.1.1.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2024-45389?

Yes. CVE-2024-45389 is fixed in 1.1.1. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is CVE-2024-45389 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2024-45389 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.

Q: What actually determines whether CVE-2024-45389 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.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2024-45389?

Upgrade: pagefind to 1.1.1 or later, @pagefind/default-ui to 1.1.1 or later, @pagefind/modular-ui to 1.1.1 or later, pagefind to 1.1.1 or later.

Summary

DOM clobbering could escalate to Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Pagefind initializes its dynamic JavaScript and WebAssembly files relative to the location of the first script you load. This information is gathered by looking up the value of document.currentScript.src.

It is possible to "clobber" this lookup with otherwise benign HTML on the page, for example:

<img name="currentScript" src="blob:https://xxx.xxx.xxx/ui.js"></img>

This will cause document.currentScript.src to resolve as an external domain, which will then be used by Pagefind to load dependencies.

This exploit would only work in the case that an attacker could inject HTML to your live, hosted, website. In these cases, this would act as a way to escalate the privilege available to an attacker. This assumes they have the ability to add some elements to the page (for example, img tags with a name attribute), but not others, as adding a script to the page would itself be the XSS vector.

Pagefind has tightened this resolution by ensuring the source is loaded from a valid script element. There are no reports of this being exploited in the wild via Pagefind.

Original Report

If an attacker can inject benign html, such as:
<img name="currentScript" src="blob:https://xxx.xxx.xxx/ui.js"></img>

they can clobber document.currentScript.src leading to XSS in your library.

Here is the same attack on webpack that was accepted: https://github.com/webpack/webpack/security/advisories/GHSA-4vvj-4cpr-p986

Impact

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-2024-45389 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (1.1.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

pagefind (< 1.1.1) @pagefind/default-ui (< 1.1.1) @pagefind/modular-ui (< 1.1.1) pagefind (< 1.1.1)

Security releases

pagefind → 1.1.1 (npm) @pagefind/default-ui → 1.1.1 (npm) @pagefind/modular-ui → 1.1.1 (npm) pagefind → 1.1.1 (rust)

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

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Remediation advice

Upgrade the following packages to resolve this vulnerability:

pagefind to 1.1.1 or later; @pagefind/default-ui to 1.1.1 or later; @pagefind/modular-ui to 1.1.1 or later; pagefind to 1.1.1 or later

Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-45389? CVE-2024-45389 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in pagefind (npm), affecting versions < 1.1.1. It is fixed in 1.1.1. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
How severe is CVE-2024-45389? CVE-2024-45389 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (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.
Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-45389?
- pagefind (npm) (versions < 1.1.1)
- @pagefind/default-ui (npm) (versions < 1.1.1)
- @pagefind/modular-ui (npm) (versions < 1.1.1)
Is there a fix for CVE-2024-45389? Yes. CVE-2024-45389 is fixed in 1.1.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is CVE-2024-45389 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-45389 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
What actually determines whether CVE-2024-45389 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.
How do I fix CVE-2024-45389?
- Upgrade pagefind to 1.1.1 or later
- Upgrade @pagefind/default-ui to 1.1.1 or later
- Upgrade @pagefind/modular-ui to 1.1.1 or later
- Upgrade pagefind to 1.1.1 or later