CVE-2026-83610: xmldom XML Fragment Injection Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-6gmq-8vp8-gcm6",
  "modified" : "2026-09-02T15:18:20Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-02T15:18:20Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-83610" ],
  "summary" : "xmldom: XML fragment injection via invalid EntityReference.nodeName during requireWellFormed serialization",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nAn `EntityReference` node can be created with an invalid, attacker-controlled name through `Document.createEntityReference(name)`. When this node is serialized directly with:\n\n```js\nserializer.serializeToString(ref, { requireWellFormed: true })\n```\n\nthe invalid `nodeName` is emitted into the serialized XML fragment without validation or escaping.\n\nThis can produce real XML markup in the serialized output. In the proof of concept below, the serialized fragment contains `<injected/>`, and reparsing the fragment creates a real `injected` element.\n\n---\n\n## Details\n\nThe issue appears to be in the serialization path for `ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE`.\n\nFor several other node types, `requireWellFormed: true` performs specific validation checks before serialization. For example, comments, processing instructions, document types, and some character data cases are checked before being emitted.\n\nHowever, for `ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE`, the serializer appears to emit the node name directly in entity reference form:\n\n```js\ncase ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE:\n  buf.push('&', n.nodeName, ';');\n  return null;\n```\n\nAs a result, if `nodeName` contains characters that break out of the intended `&name;` structure, the serializer can emit additional XML markup.\n\nFor example, an entity reference created with the name:\n\n```text\nsafe; <injected/> &x\n```\n\nis serialized as:\n\n```xml\n&safe; <injected/> &x;\n```\n\nWhen this fragment is later parsed in an XML context, `<injected/>` becomes a real element.\n\nThis is especially surprising when `{ requireWellFormed: true }` is used, because applications may reasonably treat this mode as the stricter or safer XML serialization mode.\n\n---\n\n## Proof of Concept\n\nTested with:\n\n```text\n@xmldom/xmldom@0.9.10\nNode.js v24.18.0\nWindows 10 / PowerShell\n```\n\n```js\n'use strict';\n\nconst { DOMImplementation, XMLSerializer, DOMParser } = require('@xmldom/xmldom');\n\nconst impl = new DOMImplementation();\nconst doc = impl.createDocument(null, 'root', null);\nconst serializer = new XMLSerializer();\n\nfunction countInjected(fragment) {\n  try {\n    const parsed = new DOMParser().parseFromString(`<root>${fragment}</root>`, 'application/xml');\n    return parsed.getElementsByTagName('injected').length;\n  } catch (e) {\n    return `PARSE_THROW ${e.name}: ${e.message}`;\n  }\n}\n\nfor (const name of [\n  'safe',\n  'safe; <injected/> &x',\n  'x<injected',\n  'x y'\n]) {\n  try {\n    const ref = doc.createEntityReference(name);\n    const xml = serializer.serializeToString(ref, { requireWellFormed: true });\n\n    console.log(`[SERIALIZED] ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${xml}`);\n    console.log(`[INJECTED_COUNT] ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${countInjected(xml)}`);\n  } catch (e) {\n    console.log(`[THROW] ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${e.name}: ${e.message}`);\n  }\n}\n```\n\nObserved output:\n\n```text\n[SERIALIZED] \"safe\": &safe;\n[INJECTED_COUNT] \"safe\": 0\n\n[SERIALIZED] \"safe; <injected/> &x\": &safe; <injected/> &x;\n[INJECTED_COUNT] \"safe; <injected/> &x\": 1\n\n[SERIALIZED] \"x<injected\": &x<injected;\n[INJECTED_COUNT] \"x<injected\": 0\n\n[SERIALIZED] \"x y\": &x y;\n[INJECTED_COUNT] \"x y\": 0\n```\n\n---\n\n## Impact\n\nAn application that creates an `EntityReference` from attacker-controlled input and then serializes that node or XML fragment with `requireWellFormed: true` may produce XML containing attacker-controlled markup.\n\nThe impact is limited by two observations:\n\n1. The parser does not create `EntityReference` nodes from ordinary XML entity references.\n2. Appending an `EntityReference` node as an element child is rejected with a `HierarchyRequestError`.\n\nThe main affected scenario is applications that directly use `createEntityReference(name)` and then serialize the resulting node or fragment.\n\n## Fix Applied\n\nTwo complementary, non-breaking fixes.\n(1) `document.createEntityReference(name)` rejects an invalid `Name` at creation, closing the reachable creation vector by default — the opt-in serializer check alone cannot, since a later `nodeName` mutation would bypass a creation-only guard.\n(2) Under `requireWellFormed`, the serializer validates the `EntityReference` `nodeName` as a well-formed XML `Name` and throws `InvalidStateError` when it is not; a valid reference still serializes as `&name;`. Both ship on both maintained versions. The `EntityReference` / `createEntityReference` docs note that under `requireWellFormed` the `nodeName` is validated as an XML `Name`, and that xmldom does not expand entities. See the [XML `Name` production](https://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#NT-Name).\n> **⚠ Opt-in required.** Protection is not automatic. Existing serialization calls remain\n> vulnerable unless `{ requireWellFormed: true }` is explicitly passed. Applications that\n> serialize untrusted DOM content should audit all `serializeToString()` call sites and add it.\n\n### Proof of Concept - fixed path\n\n```js\n'use strict';\n\nconst { DOMImplementation, XMLSerializer } = require('@xmldom/xmldom');\n\nconst impl = new DOMImplementation();\nconst doc = impl.createDocument(null, 'root', null);\nconst serializer = new XMLSerializer();\n\n// Creation-time anchor (applied by default): an invalid XML Name is rejected at creation.\ntry {\n  doc.createEntityReference('safe; <injected/> &x');\n} catch (e) {\n  console.log(`${e.name}`); // rejected at creation\n}\n\n// Default path (requireWellFormed omitted): because creation now rejects an ill-formed name,\n// an ill-formed nodeName is only reachable via a post-creation mutation — and is emitted verbatim.\nconst ref = doc.createEntityReference('safe');\nref.nodeName = 'safe; <injected/> &x';\nconsole.log(serializer.serializeToString(ref));\n// -> &safe; <injected/> &x;   (injection present on the default path)\n\n// Opt-in path: throws on the invalid nodeName.\ntry {\n  serializer.serializeToString(ref, { requireWellFormed: true });\n} catch (e) {\n  console.log(`${e.name}`); // InvalidStateError\n}\n\n// A valid name still serializes as &name; under requireWellFormed.\nconst ok = doc.createEntityReference('valid');\nconsole.log(serializer.serializeToString(ok, { requireWellFormed: true }));\n// -> &valid;\n```\n\n### Why the default stays verbatim\n\nThe creation-time anchor is applied by default, because it is classified non-breaking. The serializer check, by contrast, stays gated behind `{ requireWellFormed: true }`: W3C DOM Parsing's require-well-formed flag defaults to `false`, and the browser `XMLSerializer` emits the `nodeName` verbatim in that default mode, so unconditionally throwing for an ill-formed `EntityReference.nodeName` would be an unjustified breaking change — which is why the default serialization path stays verbatim.\n\n### Residual limitation\n\nThe creation vector is closed by default — the non-breaking creation-time anchor — with no further deferred work. The residual is at serialization: the default path still emits an ill-formed `nodeName` verbatim, because the serializer check is opt-in via `{ requireWellFormed: true }`.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@xmldom/xmldom"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.7.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.8.15"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.8.14"
    }
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@xmldom/xmldom"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.9.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.9.12"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.9.11"
    }
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "xmldom"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.6.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/security/advisories/GHSA-6gmq-8vp8-gcm6"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-83610"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/pull/1071"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/pull/1072"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/commit/4664386e4f4d99d17b416a151dbe8323e245284b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/commit/6c3fb5ffeafe7901ec928ce9010988dd716c94a0"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/releases/tag/0.8.15"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/releases/tag/0.9.12"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-116" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-02T15:18:20Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-09-01T15:17:39Z"
  }
}