CVE-2026-31859

EUVD-2026-11261 · Published Mar 11, 2026

CraftCMS vulnerable to reflective XSS via incomplete return URL sanitization

Summary

The fix for CVE-2025-35939 in craftcms/cms introduced a strip_tags() call in src/web/User.php to sanitize return URLs before they are stored in the session. However, strip_tags() only removes HTML tags (angle brackets) -- it does not inspect or filter URL schemes. Payloads like javascript:alert(document.cookie) contain no HTML tags and pass through strip_tags() completely unmodified, enabling reflected XSS when the return URL is rendered in an href attribute.

Details

The patched code in is:

public function setReturnUrl($url): void
{
    parent::setReturnUrl(strip_tags($url));
}

strip_tags() removes HTML tags (e.g., <script>, <img>) from a string, but it is not a URL sanitizer. When the sanitized return URL is subsequently rendered in an href attribute context (e.g., <a href="{{ returnUrl }}">), the following dangerous payloads survive strip_tags() completely unmodified:

javascript: protocol URLs -- javascript:alert(document.cookie) contains no HTML tags, so strip_tags() returns it verbatim. When placed in an href, clicking the link executes the JavaScript.
data: URIs -- data:text/html;base64,PHNjcmlwdD5hbGVydCgxKTwvc2NyaXB0Pg== uses Base64 encoding and contains no tags at all, bypassing strip_tags() entirely.
Protocol-relative URLs -- //evil.com/steal contains no tags and is passed through unchanged. When rendered as an href, the browser resolves it relative to the current page’s protocol, redirecting the user to an attacker-controlled domain.

The core issue is that strip_tags() operates on HTML syntax (angle brackets) while the threat model here requires URL scheme validation. These are fundamentally different security concerns.

Impact

Reflected XSS via crafted return URL. An attacker constructs a malicious link such as https://target.example.com/craft/?returnUrl=javascript:alert(document.cookie) and sends it to a victim. The attack flow is:

Victim clicks the link, visiting the Craft CMS site.
The application calls setReturnUrl() with the attacker-controlled value.
strip_tags() processes the URL but finds no HTML tags -- it passes through unchanged.
The URL is stored in the session and later rendered in an href attribute (e.g., a "Return" or "Continue" link).
When the victim clicks that link, javascript:alert(document.cookie) executes in the context of the Craft CMS origin.

This enables:

Session hijacking via cookie theft (document.cookie)
Data exfiltration via fetch() to an attacker-controlled server
Phishing by redirecting to a lookalike domain (protocol-relative URL)
CSRF by performing actions on behalf of the authenticated user

Technologies

Craftcms Craft CmsCraftcms Cms

Weaknesses

CWE-79CWE-116

MITRE ATT&CK

Inferred

Where this vulnerability fits in an attack

ReconImpact

Initial Access

T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

References

Potentially impacted assets

See if this affects your attack surface

Latest trending attack

Criticalyesterday

Google Brotli decoder - Remote Code Execution via compressed requests (Exploitation Check)

This control is the second step of the Patrowl response to CVE-2026-111497 (Node2Shell). It complements the first control of 22 October 2026, which focused on the Node.js runtime, and does not replace it. Why a second control CVE-2026-111497 is an out-of-bounds write in the Google Brotli decoder, the library that decompresses Brotli ("br") data. It was first published as a Node.js vulnerability, because Node.js bundles this decoder. Later publications showed that the flaw is in the library itself. Every product that embeds an affected version of the decoder is concerned, whatever its language or vendor. A public proof of concept demonstrates code execution. Any server that decompresses request bodies sent with "Content-Encoding: br" exposes the decoder to unauthenticated attackers. Known cases include Express 5 and NestJS 11 on Node.js, Koa and Fastify setups, Bun, Envoy and Istio with request decompression enabled, and any application or reverse proxy that decodes Brotli request bodies with an affected library. The flaw also works in the other direction. A malicious server can compromise an unpatched client that decodes a Brotli response, for example Node.js fetch(), Python clients (requests, httpx, aiohttp, Scrapy) with the Brotli or brotlicffi package, or libcurl builds with Brotli support. What this control checks Patrowl sends small, valid Brotli-compressed requests to each asset and observes whether the server decodes them. The check does not depend on the technology: it detects the behaviour, whatever the stack behind it. These requests are what any legitimate client could send. They never reach the vulnerable code path and cannot affect the availability of the service. How to read the result Potentially impacted means the asset decodes Brotli request bodies: the attack surface is exposed. It does not confirm that the asset is vulnerable. The version of the Brotli decoder in use is not visible from the outside. This check covers applications that parse request bodies on their root path. A Not impacted result does not rule out exposure on other routes, nor on the client side. Checking the versions on the servers remains the only exhaustive verification. Affected and fixed versions Google Brotli 1.0.3 to 1.2.0 are affected, fixed in 1.0.10, 1.1.1 and 1.2.1. Fixed releases of the main products embedding it: Node.js 22.23.4, 24.22.1 and 26.12.1 (end-of-life lines 20.x and older and 25.x receive no fix), Bun 1.4.4, Envoy 1.37.8, 1.38.6, 1.39.3 and 1.40.0, Istio 1.29.9, 1.30.6 and 1.31.2, Python Brotli 1.2.1 and brotlicffi 1.2.1.0. Products that link against the system library depend on the Brotli package of the Linux distribution. Recommendations Update every component that embeds the Brotli decoder (only real fix). Start with the assets flagged by this control. Restart the processes after the update. Rebuild containers, single-executable applications and appliances that bundle an affected runtime or library. Reduce the exposure until the update is deployed. Reject requests with "Content-Encoding: br" at the reverse proxy, load balancer or WAF, case-insensitively and including lists such as "gzip, br". On Envoy and Istio, disable request decompression for Brotli. Review outbound calls. List the features that fetch content from servers you do not control, and patch the services that host them first.