CVE-2024-49362: Remote Code Execution on click of <a> Link in markdown preview

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-49362 is a critical (CVSS 9.6) Code Injection vulnerability in joplin_project joplin. EPSS estimates a 1.03% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 63.4% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 14-11-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 14-11-2024
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application. Joplin-desktop has a vulnerability that leads to remote code execution (RCE) when a user clicks on an <a> link within untrusted notes. The issue arises due to insufficient sanitization of <a> tag attributes introduced by the Mermaid. This vulnerability allows the execution of untrusted HTML content within the Electron window, which has full access to Node.js APIs, enabling arbitrary shell command execution.

• CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment.
• CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.