Description
In Sanitize (RubyGem sanitize) greater than or equal to 3.0.0 and less than 5.2.1, there is a cross-site scripting vulnerability. When HTML is sanitized using Sanitize's "relaxed" config, or a custom config that allows certain elements, some content in a math or svg element may not be sanitized correctly even if math and svg are not in the allowlist. You are likely to be vulnerable to this issue if you use Sanitize's relaxed config or a custom config that allows one or more of the following HTML elements: iframe, math, noembed, noframes, noscript, plaintext, script, style, svg, xmp. Using carefully crafted input, an attacker may be able to sneak arbitrary HTML through Sanitize, potentially resulting in XSS (cross-site scripting) or other undesired behavior when that HTML is rendered in a browser. This has been fixed in 5.2.1.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| rgrove | Sanitize | >= 3.0.0, < 5.2.1 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | ruby-sanitize | 4.6.6-2.1 | — |
| Debian 13 | ruby-sanitize | 4.6.6-2.1 | — |
| Debian 12 | ruby-sanitize | 4.6.6-2.1 | — |
| Debian 10 | ruby-sanitize | 4.6.6-2.1~deb10u1 | DSA-4730-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | ruby-sanitize | 4.6.6-2.1~0.20.04.1 | USN-4543-1 |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | ruby-sanitize | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | ruby-sanitize | No fix yet | — |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RubyGems | sanitize | >= 3.0.0, < 5.2.1 | 5.2.1 | GHSA-p4x4-rw2p-8j8m |
Advisories 2
- USN-4543-1 ruby-sanitize vulnerability Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 27, 2026
- DSA-4730-1 ruby-sanitize - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026