GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.8) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in getgrav/grav. A fix is available for getgrav/grav — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Grav: Stored CSS injection via Markdown image resize() bypasses prior media style sanitizers in Grav
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 GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 374,847 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
getgrav/gravReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
Grav 2.0.0-rc.9 and the current 2.0 branch still allow stored CSS injection through Markdown image media actions. The prior media hardening rejects direct ?style= payloads and unsafe attribute() fallbacks, but the adjacent resize() action still writes caller-controlled values directly into styleAttributes.
A publisher who can edit page Markdown can store a crafted image URL that renders additional CSS declarations in the final <img style=...> attribute. This crosses the same lower-privileged publisher to higher-privileged reviewer/admin rendered-content boundary as the earlier media style and attribute advisories.
Impact
A lower-privileged content editor can persist CSS declarations that are rendered when a higher-privileged user views the page or admin preview. The demonstrated payload creates a full-viewport fixed overlay by injecting position:fixed, viewport dimensions, background color, and z-index declarations.
This does not require JavaScript execution. The impact is stored CSS injection in rendered content, with UI redress/overlay and content-manipulation risk in higher-privileged sessions.
Reproduction
Tested versions:
- Grav 2.0 branch commit
6582166173bb8eb5869d96aea384e0e73777c94c - Grav
2.0.0-rc.9commite03d29aa0d3ece16d73c1ffccfa78df8bf5f28b8
Minimal Markdown payload:

A minimal PHPUnit-style reproducer can drive the same parser path directly:
$m = new class {
use \Grav\Common\Media\Traits\MediaObjectTrait;
use \Grav\Common\Media\Traits\StaticResizeTrait;
public function addMetaFile($filepath) {}
public function __toString(): string { return ''; }
public function url($reset = true) { return '/img.png'; }
public function get($name, mixed $default = null, $separator = null) { return $default; }
public function set($name, mixed $value, $separator = null) { return $this; }
protected function createThumbnail($thumb) { return null; }
protected function createLink(array $attributes) { return null; }
protected function getItems(): array { return []; }
};
$excerpts = new \Grav\Common\Page\Markdown\Excerpts(null, ['markdown' => [], 'images' => []]);
$m = $excerpts->processMediaActions(
$m,
'image.png?resize=100;position:fixed;top:0;left:0;width:100vw;height:100vh;background:white;z-index:9999,200'
);
$element = $m->parsedownElement('', '', '', '', false);
var_dump($element['attributes']['style']);
Observed style attribute:
width: 100;position:fixed;top:0;left:0;width:100vw;height:100vh;background:white;z-index:9999px;height: 200px;
The appended px lands on the final z-index value, but the preceding injected declarations remain syntactically valid CSS.
Root Cause / Technical Details
system/src/Grav/Common/Page/Markdown/Excerpts.php::processMediaActions() parses the image query string into media actions and invokes the requested public media method with call_user_func_array([$medium, $action['method']], $args).
For resize(), system/src/Grav/Common/Media/Traits/StaticResizeTrait.php::resize() stores width and height directly into style attributes:
$this->styleAttributes['width'] = $width . 'px';
$this->styleAttributes['height'] = $height . 'px';
It does not verify that the values are numeric, length-only, or free of CSS declaration delimiters. Later, system/src/Grav/Common/Media/Traits/MediaObjectTrait.php::parsedownElement() serializes keyed style attributes as raw CSS declarations:
$style .= $key . ': ' . $value . ';';
The sanitizer added for direct style() inputs is not reached for values introduced by resize(). As a result, resize=100;position:fixed;...,200 breaks out of the intended width: value and injects additional declarations.
PoC Evidence
On both current 2.0 and 2.0.0-rc.9, the targeted regression test produced the injected style string above. Existing tests still confirm the direct style() and attribute() paths are rejected; the bypass is specific to the adjacent resize() styleAttributes path.
Remediation
Sanitize or type-normalize all values before they enter styleAttributes, not only values passed through MediaObjectTrait::style(). For resize(), cast or validate width and height as numeric values before appending px, or use a shared CSS declaration builder that rejects semicolons, colons, property names, and other declaration-breaking characters. Add regression coverage for resize=100;position:fixed;top:0,200 and any other media action that writes to styleAttributes directly.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | getgrav/grav | ≥ 2.0.0-rc.9&&< 2.0.0 | 2.0.0composer require getgrav/grav:^2.0.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for getgrav/grav, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update getgrav/grav to 2.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9. 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-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-ffmg-hfvg-jhg9 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.