CVE-2025-54881

In the default configuration of mermaid 11.9.0, user supplied input for sequence diagram labels is passed to innerHTML during calculation of element size, causing XSS.

Details

Sequence diagram node labels with KaTeX delimiters are passed through calculateMathMLDimensions. This method passes the full label to innerHTML which allows allows malicious users to inject arbitrary HTML and cause XSS when mermaid-js is used in it's default configuration (with KaTeX support enabled).

The vulnerability lies here:

export const calculateMathMLDimensions = async (text: string, config: MermaidConfig) => {
  text = await renderKatex(text, config);
  const divElem = document.createElement('div');
  divElem.innerHTML = text; // XSS sink, text has not been sanitized.
  divElem.id = 'katex-temp';
  divElem.style.visibility = 'hidden';
  divElem.style.position = 'absolute';
  divElem.style.top = '0';
  const body = document.querySelector('body');
  body?.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', divElem);
  const dim = { width: divElem.clientWidth, height: divElem.clientHeight };
  divElem.remove();
  return dim;
};

The calculateMathMLDimensions method was introduced in 5c69e5fdb004a6d0a2abe97e23d26e223a059832 two years ago, which was released in Mermaid 10.9.0.

PoC

Render the following diagram and observe the modified DOM.

sequenceDiagram
    participant A as Alice<img src="x" onerror="document.write(`xss on ${document.domain}`)">$$\\text{Alice}$$
    A->>John: Hello John, how are you?
    Alice-)John: See you later!

Here is a PoC on mermaid.live: https://mermaid.live/edit#pako:eNpVUMtOwzAQ_BWzyoFKaRTyaFILiio4IK7ckA-1km1iKbaLY6spUf4dJ0AF68uOZ2dm7REqXSNQ6PHDoarwWfDGcMkUudaJGysqceLKkj3hPdl3osJ7IRvSm-qBwcCAaIXGaONRrSsnUdnobITF28PQ954lwXglai25UNNhxWAXBMyXxcGOi-3kL_5k79e73atuFSUv2HWazH1IWn0m3CC5aPf4b3p2WK--BW-4DJCOWzQ3TM0HQmiMqIFa4zAEicZv4iGMsw0D26JEBtS3NR656ywDpiYv869_11r-Ko12TQv0yLveI3eqfcjP111HUNVonrRTFuhdsVgAHWEAmuRxlG7SuEzKMi-yJAnhAjTLIk_EcbFJtuk2y9MphM8lM47KIp--AOZghtU

XSS on all sites that use mermaid and render user supplied diagrams without further sanitization.

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.

Kodem intelligence

The value of the text argument for the calculateMathMLDimensions method needs to be sanitized before getting passed on to innerHTML.

1. What is CVE-2025-54881? CVE-2025-54881 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in mermaid (npm), affecting versions >= 11.0.0-alpha.1, < 11.10.0. It is fixed in 11.10.0, 10.9.4. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
2. Which versions of mermaid are affected by CVE-2025-54881? mermaid (npm) versions >= 11.0.0-alpha.1, < 11.10.0 is affected.
3. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-54881? Yes. CVE-2025-54881 is fixed in 11.10.0, 10.9.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
4. Is CVE-2025-54881 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-54881 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
5. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-54881 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.
6. How do I fix CVE-2025-54881?
   • Upgrade mermaid to 11.10.0 or later
   • Upgrade mermaid to 10.9.4 or later