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CVE-2013-7451 Nodejs CVE debrief

CVE-2013-7451 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting issue in the Node.js validator module. According to the supplied record, input containing nested tags could bypass the module’s XSS filter, allowing attacker-controlled content to slip through sanitization. The issue was publicly disclosed through an oss-security mailing list post and a Node Security advisory, and the NVD record lists it as CVE-2013-7451 with a CVSS 3.0 score of 6.1.

Vendor
Nodejs
Product
CVE-2013-7451
CVSS
MEDIUM 6.1
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-01-23
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-01-23
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Teams running Node.js applications that rely on the validator module for XSS filtering or HTML sanitization should review this immediately, especially if the affected code processes untrusted user input and renders it into web pages or templates.

Technical summary

The vulnerability is a filter-bypass weakness classified by NVD as CWE-79. The supplied description says the validator module before 1.1.0 for Node.js could be bypassed with a nested tag, which means the XSS filter did not correctly handle certain structured input. NVD rates the issue as network-reachable, requiring user interaction, with low confidentiality and integrity impact and no availability impact.

Defensive priority

Medium priority. The CVSS score is 6.1 and the attack requires user interaction, but the issue can still expose users to script injection if vulnerable input reaches browser-facing output. Prioritize systems that use validator as a trust boundary for web content.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Upgrade the validator module to version 1.1.0 or later, or the nearest fixed release available in your dependency chain.
  • Inventory applications and lockfiles to identify where the validator module is used, including transitive dependencies.
  • Review any code that uses validator output as a security control for HTML or XSS sanitization and add layered defenses such as output encoding and content security controls.
  • Add regression tests for nested and structured inputs to ensure filtering and encoding behavior remains correct after upgrades.
  • Validate deployed dependency versions in production and rebuild artifacts if vulnerable versions are embedded in packaged releases.

Evidence notes

The supplied NVD record states CVE-2013-7451 is tied to node.js/validator content with vulnerable scope including node.js 1.0.4 in the CPE data, while the textual description says the validator module before 1.1.0 is affected. NVD assigns CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N and CWE-79. References in the corpus include an oss-security mailing list post and a Node Security advisory, both marked as third-party/vendor advisory sources.

Official resources

Publicly disclosed through the oss-security mailing list and a Node Security advisory. The NVD record supplied here was published on 2017-01-23 and later modified on 2026-05-13; those dates describe record timing, not the original flaw date