GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ

readthedocs-sphinx-search vulnerable to cross-site scripting when including search results from malicious projects

References

• https://github.com/readthedocs/readthedocs-sphinx-search/commit/8c6f6d01e88e72ef32ed0c220b6c19d1e1121c73

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at [email protected] (PGP)

This vulnerability could have allowed an attacker to include arbitrary HTML content in search results by having a user search a malicious project. This was due to our search client not correctly escaping all user content from search results. You can find more information in the advisory published in our readthedocs.org repo.

Users of this extension should update to the 0.3.2 version, and trigger a new build.

This issue was discovered by a member of our team, and we have seen no signs that this vulnerability was exploited in the wild.

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.

GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ has a CVSS score of 6.3 (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 (0.3.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

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This issue has been patched in our 0.3.2 version.

1. What is GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ? GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in readthedocs-sphinx-search (pip), affecting versions <= 0.3.1. It is fixed in 0.3.2. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
2. How severe is GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ? GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ has a CVSS score of 6.3 (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 versions of readthedocs-sphinx-search are affected by GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ? readthedocs-sphinx-search (pip) versions <= 0.3.1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ? Yes. GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ is fixed in 0.3.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ 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 GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ 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 GHSA-XGFM-FJX6-62MJ? Upgrade readthedocs-sphinx-search to 0.3.2 or later.