Summary
The <base> tag passes through the default Cleaner configuration. While page_structure=True removes html, head, and title tags, there is no specific handling for <base>, allowing an attacker to inject it and hijack relative links on the page.
Details
The <base> tag is not currently in the page_structure kill set. Even though the specification says <base> must be inside <head>, browsers accept <base> tags outside of the head.
If an attacker injects a <base> tag, it changes the base URL for all relative URLs on the page (links, images, scripts) to a domain controlled by the attacker.
PoC
from lxml_html_clean import clean_html
# The base tag is preserved in the output
result = clean_html('<base href="http://evil.com/"><a href="/account">Account</a>')
print(result)
# Output: <div><base href="http://evil.com/">...<a href="/account">Account</a></div>
Impact
The injection of a <base> tag allows an attacker to hijack the resolution of all relative URLs on the page. This results in three critical attack vectors:
- Phishing & Redirection: Attackers can redirect user navigation (e.g.,
<a href="/login">) and form submissions (e.g.,<form action="/auth">) to an attacker-controlled domain, effectively stealing credentials or sensitive data without the user realizing they have left the legitimate site. - Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): If the victim application loads JavaScript files using relative paths (e.g.,
<script src="assets/app.js">), the browser will attempt to fetch the script from the attacker's domain. This upgrades the vulnerability from HTML injection to full Stored XSS. - Defacement: Relative references to images (
<img>) and stylesheets (<link>) will be loaded from the attacker's server, allowing for UI redressing or defacement.
CVE-2026-28350 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no 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 (0.4.4); 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.
Remediation advice
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-28350? CVE-2026-28350 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in lxml-html-clean (pip), affecting versions <= 0.4.3. It is fixed in 0.4.4.
- How severe is CVE-2026-28350? CVE-2026-28350 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (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 lxml-html-clean are affected by CVE-2026-28350? lxml-html-clean (pip) versions <= 0.4.3 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-28350? Yes. CVE-2026-28350 is fixed in 0.4.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-28350 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-28350 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-2026-28350 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-2026-28350? Upgrade
lxml-html-cleanto 0.4.4 or later.