VulnerabilityPublished 5 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-28348: fedora-python lxml_html_clean · Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

Affects fedora-python lxml_html_cleanSource CVE Database V5

Compare

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.1 Medium : upgrade to 0.4.4 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.1Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 16% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 0.4.4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 5 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade lxml_html_clean and fedora-python/lxml_html_clean to 0.4.4.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
fedora-pythonlxml_html_clean	Affected <0.4.4	Fixed in 0.4.4
GitHubfedora-python/lxml_html_clean`pkg:github/fedora-python/lxml_html_clean`Other threats	Affected <0.4.4	Fixed in 0.4.4

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately upgrade lxml_html_clean to version 0.4.4 or later, where the vulnerability is patched. Review and audit all instances where lxml_html_clean is used for HTML sanitization to ensure no legacy versions remain in production. Implement additional defense-in-depth measures such as Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and loading of external CSS resources. Employ rigorous input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied content, especially in web applications accessible via older browsers. Conduct security testing focusing on CSS injection and XSS vectors to detect any residual weaknesses. Educate developers about the risks of improper encoding and escaping, and encourage the use of well-maintained libraries for sanitization. If upgrading immediately is not feasible, consider applying temporary filters or disabling features that rely on vulnerable sanitization until patched.

Description

lxml_html_clean is a project for HTML cleaning functionalities copied from `lxml.html.clean`. Prior to version 0.4.4, the _has_sneaky_javascript() method strips backslashes before checking for dangerous CSS keywords. This causes CSS Unicode escape sequences to bypass the @import and expression() filters, allowing external CSS loading or XSS in older browsers. This issue has been patched in version 0.4.4.

Impact

This vulnerability can lead to the injection of malicious CSS or JavaScript code via bypassing sanitization filters, resulting in cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks or unauthorized external CSS loading. For organizations, this can compromise the confidentiality and integrity of user data, enable session hijacking, defacement, or execution of arbitrary scripts in the context of trusted web applications. The impact is particularly significant for web applications that rely on lxml_html_clean for sanitizing user-generated HTML content before rendering it in browsers. Older browsers are more susceptible to exploitation due to their handling of CSS Unicode escapes. While availability is not directly affected, the reputational damage and potential data breaches from successful XSS attacks can be severe. Since the attack requires user interaction, phishing or social engineering could be used to lure victims. The vulnerability affects any organization using vulnerable versions of the library, especially those in sectors with high web application usage such as finance, e-commerce, healthcare, and government services.

CWE-116Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product prepares a structured message for communication with another component, but encoding or escaping of the data is either missing or done incorrectly. As a result, the intended structure of the message is not preserved.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Parameterization
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Content Security Policy (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention in Java (opens in a new tab)
Query Parameterization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V14.4.6 (opens in a new tab)
V14.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Cross Zone Scripting (opens in a new tab)
User-Controlled Filename (opens in a new tab)
Web Server Logs Tampering (opens in a new tab)
AJAX Footprinting (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Mar 2026, 20:26 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-116

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats