# CVE-2024-45801: Tampering by prototype polution in DOMPurify

> Attackers can bypass DOMPurify's depth checks via prototype pollution to execute cross-site scripting attacks, requiring users to upgrade the library.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2024-45801, GHSA-mmhx-hmjr-r674, MINI-q7cx-7c9m-56pp, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-45801

## What is CVE-2024-45801?

CVE-2024-45801 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in cure53 DOMPurify, published on 16 Sep 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

DOMPurify is a DOM-only, super-fast, uber-tolerant XSS sanitizer for HTML, MathML and SVG. It has been discovered that malicious HTML using special nesting techniques can bypass the depth checking added to DOMPurify in recent releases. It was also possible to use Prototype Pollution to weaken the depth check. This renders dompurify unable to avoid cross site scripting (XSS) attacks. This issue has been addressed in versions 2.5.4 and 3.1.3 of DOMPurify. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-1321 (Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes), CWE-1333 (Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-45801?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including dompurify. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dompurify` | npm | All versions | 2.5.4 |
| `dompurify` | npm | All versions | 2.5.4 |
| `dompurify` | npm | From 3.0.0 | 3.1.3 |
| `dompurify` | npm | From 3.0.0 | 3.1.3 |

Products: Cure53 Dompurify.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-45801?

Upgrade dompurify to a fixed version for your release line: 2.5.4 or 3.1.3.

## Is CVE-2024-45801 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-45801 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in cure53 DOMPurify

- [CVE-2024-47875](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-47875/): DOMPurify nesting-based mXSS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-48910](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-48910/): DOMPurify vulnerable to tampering by prototype polution (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-47423](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-47423/): DOMPurify XSS via `selectedcontent` re-clone (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2026-49978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49978/): DOMPurify IN_PLACE Sanitization Bypass via Attached Shadow Root Inside <template>.content (medium 6.3)
- [CVE-2026-49458](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49458/): DOMPurify: Cross-realm IN_PLACE sanitization leaves executable markup intact via realm-bound `instanceof` checks (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-45801 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-45801 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in cure53 DOMPurify, published on 16 Sep 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-45801 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- dompurify (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5.4
- dompurify (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5.4
- dompurify (npm): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.1.3
- dompurify (npm): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.1.3

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45801/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45801/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-45801
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-45801
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-45801

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45801/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.