ckeditor4 plugins vulnerable to cross-site scripting caused by the editor instance destroying process

{
  "id": "e53ccc214142f1a4d17d9b7d4d60b560022ba47fa1e7fdebb02d2a4167f0dc2f",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-28439",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "ckeditor4 plugins vulnerable to cross-site scripting caused by the editor instance destroying process",
    "summary": "CKEditor4 is an open source what-you-see-is-what-you-get HTML editor. A cross-site scripting vulnerability has been discovered affecting Iframe Dialog and Media Embed packages. The vulnerability may trigger a JavaScript code after fulfilling special conditions: using one of the affected packages on a web page with missing proper Content Security Policy configuration; initializing the editor on an element and using an element other than `` as a base; and destroying the editor instance. This vulnerability might affect a small percentage of integrators that depend on dynamic editor initialization/destroy mechanism. A fix is available in CKEditor4 version 4.21.0. In some rare cases, a security fix may be considered a breaking change. Starting from version 4.21.0, the Iframe Dialog plugin applies the `sandbox` attribute by default, which restricts JavaScript code execution in the iframe element. To change this behavior, configure the `config.iframe_attributes` option. Also starting from version 4.21.0, the Media Embed plugin regenerates the entire content of the embed widget by default. To change this behavior, configure the `config.embed_keepOriginalContent` option. Those who choose to enable either of the more permissive options or who cannot upgrade to a patched version should properly configure Content Security Policy to avoid any potential security issues that may arise from embedding iframe elements on their web page.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2023-28439",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2023-28439",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2023-28439",
        "GHSA-vh5c-xwqv-cv9g"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor4",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "769d96134bcf29f5d3d870e25797ce9b9dc8289e"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "d529d176d70016ce8bcf51eb87ce7802a05fe5f9"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "4.21.0"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "AFFECTED_FIELD",
                    "strategy": "StringRangeExpression"
                  },
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:ckeditor:ckeditor:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "4.0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "4.21.0"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_RANGE"
                  }
                ]
              }
            },
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor4-releases",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "870a561110a23435d78eda377400dca7f64d3bd3"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "6bf35758a39efddcf8ffaa92e2a6cc1cd6696fbd"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:ckeditor:ckeditor:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "4.0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "4.21.0"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_RANGE"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
            "4.20.2",
            "4.20.1",
            "4.20.0",
            "4.19.1",
            "4.19.0",
            "4.18.0",
            "4.17.2",
            "4.17.1",
            "4.17.0",
            "4.16.0",
            "4.15.0",
            "4.14.0",
            "4.13.0",
            "4.12.0",
            "4.10.0",
            "4.8.0",
            "4.7.0",
            "4.6.0",
            "4.5.0",
            "4.5.0-beta",
            "4.4.1",
            "4.4.0",
            "4.2.3",
            "4.2.2",
            "4.2.1",
            "4.2.0",
            "4.2",
            "4.1.0",
            "4.1",
            "4.1rc",
            "4.0.1",
            "4.0.0",
            "4.0",
            "standard/4.20.2",
            "standard/4.20.1",
            "standard/4.20.0",
            "standard/4.19.1",
            "standard/4.19.0",
            "standard/4.18.0",
            "standard/4.17.2",
            "standard/4.17.1",
            "standard/4.17.0",
            "standard/4.16.2",
            "standard/4.16.1",
            "standard/4.16.0",
            "standard/4.15.1",
            "standard/4.15.0",
            "standard/4.14.1",
            "standard/4.14.0",
            "standard/4.13.1",
            "standard/4.13.0",
            "standard/4.12.1",
            "standard/4.12.0",
            "standard/4.11.4",
            "standard/4.11.3",
            "standard/4.11.2",
            "standard/4.11.1",
            "standard/4.11.0",
            "standard/4.10.1",
            "standard/4.10.0",
            "standard/4.9.2",
            "standard/4.9.1",
            "standard/4.9.0",
            "standard/4.8.0",
            "standard/4.7.3",
            "standard/4.7.2",
            "standard/4.7.1",
            "standard/4.7.0",
            "standard/4.6.2",
            "standard/4.6.1",
            "standard/4.6.0",
            "standard/4.5.11",
            "standard/4.5.10",
            "standard/4.5.9",
            "standard/4.5.8",
            "standard/4.5.7",
            "standard/4.5.6",
            "standard/4.5.5",
            "standard/4.5.4",
            "standard/4.5.3",
            "standard/4.5.2",
            "standard/4.5.1",
            "standard/4.5.0",
            "standard/4.4.8",
            "standard/4.4.7",
            "standard/4.4.6",
            "standard/4.4.5",
            "standard/4.4.4",
            "standard/4.4.3",
            "standard/4.4.2",
            "standard/4.4.1",
            "standard/4.4.0",
            "standard/4.3.5",
            "standard/4.3.4",
            "standard/4.3.3",
            "4.3.2/standard",
            "4.3.1/standard",
            "4.3.0/standard",
            "4.2.3/standard",
            "4.2.2/standard",
            "4.2.1/standard",
            "4.2/standard",
            "4.1.3/standard",
            "4.1.2/standard",
            "4.1.1/standard",
            "4.1/standard",
            "4.1rc/standard",
            "4.0.1/standard",
            "4.0/standard"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2023-28439.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:29.033781525Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://ckeditor.com/cke4/addon/embed",
        "https://ckeditor.com/cke4/addon/iframe",
        "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GWKG2VCPJNETVCDTXU4X6FQ2PO6XCNGN/",
        "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/L4ODGOW6PYVOXHQSMWJBOCE6DXWAI33W/",
        "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VCYKD3JZWWA3ESOZG4PHJJEXT4EYIUIQ/",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/28xxx/CVE-2023-28439.json",
        "https://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor4/security/advisories/GHSA-vh5c-xwqv-cv9g",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-28439"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cwe_ids": [
          "CWE-79"
        ],
        "cna_assigner": "GitHub_M",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/28xxx/CVE-2023-28439.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2023-28439",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 495919,
  "published_at": "2023-03-22T20:55:00.208+00:00"
}