CVE-2019-25225 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in sanitize-html. A fix is available for sanitize-html — see the affected versions and patch details below.
sanitize-html is vulnerable to XSS through incomprehensive sanitization
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2019-25225.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
sanitize-htmlnpmDescription
sanitize-html prior to version 2.0.0-beta is vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting (XSS). The sanitizeHtml() function in index.js does not sanitize content when using the custom transformTags option, which is intended to convert attribute values into text. As a result, malicious input can be transformed into executable code.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | sanitize-html | all versions | 2.0.0-betanpm install sanitize-html@2.0.0-beta |
Affected Products
sanitize-htmlapostrophecmsDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for sanitize-html, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update sanitize-html to 2.0.0-beta or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-25225 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2019-25225 (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-25225 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.