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Medium · 4.8 CVE-2023-27592 EUVD-2023-31334GHSA-mqqg-xjhj-wfgw

Stored XSS in Miniflux when opening a broken image due to unescaped ServerError in proxy handler

Published Mar 17, 2023 · Updated Feb 25, 2025 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

Miniflux is a feed reader. Since v2.0.25, Miniflux will automatically proxy images served over HTTP to prevent mixed content errors.

When an outbound request made by the Go HTTP client fails, the `html.ServerError` is returned unescaped without the expected Content Security Policy header added to valid responses.

By creating an RSS feed item with the inline description containing an `<img>` tag with a `srcset` attribute pointing to an invalid URL like `http:a<script>alert(1)</script>`, we can coerce the proxy handler into an error condition where the invalid URL is returned unescaped and in full.

This results in JavaScript execution on the Miniflux instance as soon as the user is convinced (e.g. by a message in the alt text) to open the broken image.

An attacker can execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of a victim Miniflux user when they open a broken image in a crafted RSS feed. This can be used to perform actions on the Miniflux instance as that user and gain administrative access to the Miniflux instance if it is reachable and the victim is an administrator.

A patch is available in version 2.0.43. As a workaround sisable image proxy; default value is `http-only`.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
miniflux v2 >= 2.0.25, < 2.0.43 —

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Alpine v3.17 miniflux 2.0.43-r0 —

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
Go miniflux.app/v2 >= 2.0.25, < 2.0.43 2.0.43 GHSA-mqqg-xjhj-wfgw

References