GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf
MEDIUMGHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf is a medium-severity (CVSS 5) vulnerability in angular. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
XSS via JQLite DOM manipulation functions in AngularJS
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
angularnpmDescription
Summary
XSS may be triggered in AngularJS applications that sanitize user-controlled HTML snippets before passing them to JQLite methods like JQLite.prepend, JQLite.after, JQLite.append, JQLite.replaceWith, JQLite.append, new JQLite and angular.element.
Description
JQLite (DOM manipulation library that's part of AngularJS) manipulates input HTML before inserting it to the DOM in jqLiteBuildFragment.
One of the modifications performed expands an XHTML self-closing tag.
If jqLiteBuildFragment is called (e.g. via new JQLite(aString)) with user-controlled HTML string that was sanitized (e.g. with DOMPurify), the transformation done by JQLite may modify some forms of an inert, sanitized payload into a payload containing JavaScript - and trigger an XSS when the payload is inserted into DOM.
This is similar to a bug in jQuery htmlPrefilter function that was fixed in 3.5.0.
Proof of concept
const inertPayload = `<div><style><style/><img src=x onerror="alert(1337)"/>`
Note that the style element is not closed and <img would be a text node inside the style if inserted into the DOM as-is.
As such, some HTML sanitizers would leave the <img as is without processing it and stripping the onerror attribute.
angular.element(document).append(inertPayload);
This will alert, as <style/> will be replaced with <style></style> before adding it to the DOM, closing the style element early and reactivating img.
Patches
The issue is patched in JQLite bundled with angular 1.8.0. AngularJS users using JQuery should upgrade JQuery to 3.5.0, as a similar vulnerability affects jQuery <3.5.0.
Workarounds
Changing sanitizer configuration not to allow certain tag grouping (e.g. <option><style></option>) or inline style elements may stop certain exploitation vectors, but it's uncertain if all possible exploitation vectors would be covered. Upgrade of AngularJS to 1.8.0 is recommended.
References
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mhp6-pxh8-r675 https://github.com/jquery/jquery/security/advisories/GHSA-gxr4-xjj5-5px2 https://github.com/jquery/jquery/security/advisories/GHSA-jpcq-cgw6-v4j6 https://blog.jquery.com/2020/04/10/jquery-3-5-0-released/ https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-ANGULAR-570058
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | angular | all versions | 1.8.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for angular. 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 angular to 1.8.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf 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 GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf 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 GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-5cp4-xmrw-59wf across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.