Description

Trix is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get rich text editor for everyday writing. Prior to 2.1.17, Trix is vulnerable to cross-site scripting when a data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute bypasses the DOMPurify sanitizer. An attacker can craft HTML containing a data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute with a malicious payload that, when rendered, executes arbitrary JavaScript in the user's session and may perform unauthorized actions or disclose sensitive information. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.17.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "4.6",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-18T15:17:08.043Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-18T15:17:08.043Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the Trix rich text editor prior to version 2.1.17. The flaw arises when the data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute successfully bypasses the DOMPurify sanitizer implementation.\nThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to craft malicious HTML payloads that, when rendered within a victim's session, execute arbitrary JavaScript code.\nThe potential impact includes unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the user, session hijacking, and the disclosure of sensitive information.\nThe affected product is Trix for versions prior to 2.1.17. Exploitation requires an attacker to successfully inject maliciously crafted HTML containing the vulnerable serialization attribute into the application context where user-supplied rich text is processed and rendered.\nThe risk implications are significant for web applications relying on Trix for content editing, as successful exploitation undermines client-side integrity and user data confidentiality.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability stems from improper handling and sanitization of HTML attributes within the Trix rich text editor, specifically involving the data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute.\nThe vulnerable component is the rendering and sanitization pipeline where Trix interacts with the DOMPurify library to clean untrusted HTML input.\nPrior to version 2.1.17, the sanitization mechanism fails to properly neutralize or strip payloads nested within the data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute, allowing malicious content to pass through DOMPurify unhindered.\nAttackers exploit this behavior by injecting specially crafted HTML markup containing malicious script payloads encapsulated within the data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: 1) The attacker supplies crafted rich text input containing the malicious data-trix-serialized-attributes attribute to the application. 2) The application passes the input through the Trix editor component and its underlying DOMPurify sanitizer. 3) Due to the sanitization bypass flaw, the malicious payload is preserved and integrated into the Document Object Model (DOM) during rendering. 4) When a user views the rendered content, the browser executes the injected JavaScript payload within the context of the user's active session.\nThe payload behavior includes the execution of arbitrary JavaScript, enabling attackers to interact with the DOM, access session cookies or tokens, and perform unauthorized state-changing actions.\nAuthentication and privilege requirements depend on the host application's architecture, but typically any user capable of injecting rich text content into the system can trigger the vulnerability. The issue manifests in browser-based environments with network exposure inherent to web applications rendering user-generated content."
}