Django Cross-site Scripting

The {% debug %} template tag in Django 2.2 before 2.2.27, 3.2 before 3.2.12, and 4.0 before 4.0.2 does not properly encode the current context. This may lead to XSS. (2022-02-03, CVE-2022-22818)

An issue was discovered in Django 2.2 before 2.2.13 and 3.0 before 3.0.7. Query parameters generated by the Django admin ForeignKeyRawIdWidget were not properly URL encoded, leading to a possibility of an XSS attack. (2020-06-03, CVE-2020-13596)

An issue was discovered in Django 1.11 before 1.11.21, 2.1 before 2.1.9, and 2.2 before 2.2.2. The clickable Current URL value displayed by the AdminURLFieldWidget displays the provided value without validating it as a safe URL. Thus, an unvalidated value stored in the database, or a value provided as a URL query parameter payload, could result in an clickable JavaScript link. (2019-06-03, CVE-2019-12308)

Cross site scripting is an attack where a web page executes code that is injected by an adversary. It usually appears, when users input is presented. This attack can be used to impersonate a user, take over control of the session, or even steal API keys.

The attack can be executed e.g. when you application injects the request parameter directly into the HTML code of the page returned to the user:

https://server.com/confirmation?message=Transaction+Complete

what results in:

<span>Confirmation: Transaction Complete</span>

In that case the message can be modified to become a valid Javascript code, e.g.:

https://server.com/confirmation?message=<script>dangerous javascript code here</script>

and it will be executed locally by the user's browser with full access to the user's personal application/browser data:

<span>Confirmation: <script>dangerous javascript code here</script></span>