vulnerability / NVI-00018480 / Revision 1
ethyca-fides has a DOM-based XSS vulnerability in fides.js via fides_description override
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for ethyca-fides. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
ethyca-fides
source listed>= 2.33.0, < 2.84.5
### Summary `fides.js` is the script that renders Fides's consent banner on customer websites. It lets the embedding page override the banner's description text at runtime via a URL query parameter, a JavaScript global, or a cookie. On sites that have opted into HTML-formatted descriptions, the overridden value is rendered as live HTML without passing through the server-side sanitiser the rendering path was designed to trust. The result is a DOM-based XSS that any visitor can trigger with a crafted link, no authentication required. The cookie source lets the payload persist, so a single click can plant a payload that fires on every subsequent banner render across all subdomains until cookies are cleared. ### Am I affected? This vulnerability affects Fides Enterprise deployments that use `fides.js` for consent management, a.k.a. "Janus", and have HTML-formatted banner descriptions enabled (the `FIDES_PRIVACY_CENTER__ALLOW_HTML_DESCRIPTION` Privacy Center container env var set to `true` ). Deployments that do not load `fides.js`, or that leave HTML descriptions off (the default), are not affected. The vulnerable code lives in the open-source `ethyca-fides` PyPI package, which is
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
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04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
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- GHSA-5qrq-9645-g5g2 ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
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Public revision history
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- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.