Medium severity · published Apr 15, 2026
CVE-2026-40186
ApostropheCMS: sanitize-html allowedTags Bypass via Entity-Decoded Text in nonTextTags Elements
6.1
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
ApostropheCMS is an open-source Node.js content management system. A regression introduced in commit 49d0bb7, included in versions 2.17.1 of the ApostropheCMS-maintained sanitize-html package bypasses allowedTags enforcement for text inside nonTextTagsArray elements (textarea and option). ApostropheCMS version 4.28.0 is affected through its dependency on the vulnerable sanitize-html version. The code at packages/sanitize-html/index.js:569-573 incorrectly assumes that htmlparser2 does not decode entities inside these elements and skips escaping, but htmlparser2 10.x does decode entities before passing text to the ontext callback. As a result, entity-encoded HTML is decoded by the parser and then written directly to the output as literal HTML characters, completely bypassing the allowedTags filter. An attacker can inject arbitrary tags including XSS payloads through any allowed option or textarea element using entity encoding. This affects non-default configurations where option or textarea are included in allowedTags, which is common in form builders and CMS platforms. This issue has been fixed in version 2.17.2 of sanitize-html and 4.29.0 of ApostropheCMS.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 16% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AP
apostrophe · apostrophecms
>= 4.28.0, < 4.29.0 · source: vendor
SA
sanitize-html · apostrophecms
>= 2.17.1, < 2.17.2 · source: vendor, NVD
AP
Apostrophecms · Apostrophecms
4.29.0 · source: NVD
Affected product
AP
apostrophe
apostrophecms
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