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Fencer Vulns
high 8.1

CVE-2023-22491 json

gatsby-transformer-remark vulnerable to unsanitized JavaScript code injection

published 2023-01-11 3 y ago modified 2026-09-29 40 d ago also GHSA-7ch4-rr99-cqcw , EUVD-2023-0381

cvss
8.1
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.6%
EPSS 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 47%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Gatsby is a free and open source framework based on React that helps developers build websites and apps. The gatsby-transformer-remark plugin prior to versions 5.25.1 and 6.3.2 passes input through to the `gray-matter` npm package, which is vulnerable to JavaScript injection in its default configuration, unless input is sanitized. The vulnerability is present in gatsby-transformer-remark when passing input in data mode (querying MarkdownRemark nodes via GraphQL). Injected JavaScript executes in the context of the build server. To exploit this vulnerability untrusted/unsanitized input would need to be sourced by or added into a file processed by gatsby-transformer-remark. A patch has been introduced in `gatsby-transformer-remark@5.25.1` and `gatsby-transformer-remark@6.3.2` which mitigates the issue by disabling the `gray-matter` JavaScript Frontmatter engine. As a workaround, if an older version of `gatsby-transformer-remark` must be used, input passed into the plugin should be sanitized ahead of processing. It is encouraged for projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.

Patch / fix

  • npm gatsby-transformer-remark 5.25.1, 6.3.2
  • gatsbyjs gatsby-transformer-remark 5.25.1, 6.3.2

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
19 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.58% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 47% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/security/advisories/GHSA-7ch4-rr99-cqcw referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
NVD 3.1 5.4 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
GitHub 3.1 8.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm gatsby-transformer-remark
>=6.0.0, <6.3.2
<5.25.1
6.3.2
5.25.1

Affected products

  • gatsbyjs gatsby

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-89 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
  • CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.