GHSA-q77q-vx4q-xx6q
MEDIUMCross-site Scripting in org.owasp.esapi:esapi
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.
Blast Radius
org.owasp.esapi:esapiReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
There is a potential for an XSS vulnerability in ESAPI caused by a incorrect regular expression for "onsiteURL" in the antisamy-esapi.xml configuration file that can cause URLs with the "javascript:" scheme to NOT be sanitized. See the reference below for full details.
Patches
Patched in ESAPI 2.3.0.0 and later. See important remediation details in the reference given below.
Workarounds
Manually edit your antisamy-esapi.xml configuration files to change the "onsiteURL" regular expression as per remediation instructions in the reference below.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Email one of the project co-leaders. See email addresses listed on the OWASP ESAPI wiki page, under "Leaders".
- Send email to one of the two ESAPI related Google Groups listed under Where to Find More Information on ESAPI on our README.md page.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.owasp.esapi:esapi | all versions | 2.3.0.0 |
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 org.owasp.esapi:esapi. 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 org.owasp.esapi:esapi to 2.3.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q77q-vx4q-xx6q 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-q77q-vx4q-xx6q 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-q77q-vx4q-xx6q. 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-q77q-vx4q-xx6q in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-q77q-vx4q-xx6q across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.