CVE-2024-43788
MEDIUMCVE-2024-43788 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in webpack. 3 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2024-43788 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
DOM Clobbering Gadget found in Webpack's AutoPublicPathRuntimeModule that leads to Cross-site Scripting (XSS)
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
webpacknpmDescription
Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset. The webpack developers have discovered a DOM Clobbering vulnerability in Webpack’s AutoPublicPathRuntimeModule. The DOM Clobbering gadget in the module can lead to cross-site scripting (XSS) in web pages where scriptless attacker-controlled HTML elements (e.g., an img tag with an unsanitized name attribute) are present. Real-world exploitation of this gadget has been observed in the Canvas LMS which allows a XSS attack to happen through a javascript code compiled by Webpack (the vulnerable part is from Webpack). DOM Clobbering is a type of code-reuse attack where the attacker first embeds a piece of non-script, seemingly benign HTML markups in the webpage (e.g. through a post or comment) and leverages the gadgets (pieces of js code) living in the existing javascript code to transform it into executable code. This vulnerability can lead to cross-site scripting (XSS) on websites that include Webpack-generated files and allow users to inject certain scriptless HTML tags with improperly sanitized name or id attributes. This issue has been addressed in release version 5.94.0. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | webpack | ≥ 5.0.0-alpha.0&&< 5.94.0 | 5.94.0 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for webpack. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update webpack to 5.94.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-43788 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2024-43788 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2024-43788. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-43788 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2024-43788 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.