Summary
Vitess allows HTML injection in /debug/querylogz & /debug/env
The /debug/querylogz and /debug/env pages for vtgate and vttablet do not properly escape user input. The result is that queries executed by Vitess can write HTML into the monitoring page at will.
Details
These pages are rendered using text/template instead of rendering with a proper HTML templating engine.
PoC
Execute any query where part of it is HTML markup, for example as part of a string. To make it easier to observe you might want to make sure the query takes a few seconds to complete, giving you time to refresh the status page.
Example query that can trigger the issue:
UPDATE users
SET
email = CONCAT("<img src=https://cataas.com/cat/says/oops>", users.idUser, "@xxx")
WHERE
email NOT LIKE '%xxx%' AND email != "[email protected]"
Result:
Impact
Anyone looking at the Vitess status page is affected. This would normally be owners / administrators of the Vitess cluster.
Anyone that can influence what text show up in queries can trigger it. This would normally be pretty much everybody interacting with a system that uses Vitess as a backend.
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-2024-53257 has a CVSS score of 4.9 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, high 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 (0.21.1, 0.20.4, 0.19.8); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
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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vitess.io/vitess to 0.21.1 or later; vitess.io/vitess to 0.20.4 or later; vitess.io/vitess to 0.19.8 or later
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-53257? CVE-2024-53257 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in vitess.io/vitess (go), affecting versions >= 0.21.0-rc1, < 0.21.1. It is fixed in 0.21.1, 0.20.4, 0.19.8. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2024-53257? CVE-2024-53257 has a CVSS score of 4.9 (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 versions of vitess.io/vitess are affected by CVE-2024-53257? vitess.io/vitess (go) versions >= 0.21.0-rc1, < 0.21.1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-53257? Yes. CVE-2024-53257 is fixed in 0.21.1, 0.20.4, 0.19.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-53257 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-53257 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-2024-53257 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-2024-53257?
- Upgrade
vitess.io/vitessto 0.21.1 or later - Upgrade
vitess.io/vitessto 0.20.4 or later - Upgrade
vitess.io/vitessto 0.19.8 or later
- Upgrade