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Fencer Vulns
high 8.2

CVE-2023-37898 json

Safe mode Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Joplin

published 2024-06-21 2 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2023-41769

cvss
8.2
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 37%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application. A Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability allows an untrusted note opened in safe mode to execute arbitrary code. `packages/renderer/MarkupToHtml.ts` renders note content in safe mode by surrounding it with <pre> and </pre>, without escaping any interior HTML tags. Thus, an attacker can create a note that closes the opening <pre> tag, then includes HTML that runs JavaScript. Because the rendered markdown iframe has the same origin as the toplevel document and is not sandboxed, any scripts running in the preview iframe can access the top variable and, thus, access the toplevel NodeJS `require` function. `require` can then be used to import modules like fs or child_process and run arbitrary commands. This issue has been addressed in version 2.12.9 and all users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Patch / fix

  • laurent_22 joplin 2.12.9

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

0.43% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 37% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/security/advisories/GHSA-hjmq-3qh4-g2r8 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
NVD 3.1 5.4 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected products

  • laurent22 joplin
  • laurent_22 joplin

Classification

Weakness
  • 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.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.