CVE-2023-26486 | Vega `scale` expression function cross site scripting

Exp

Vega is a visualization grammar, a declarative format for creating, saving, and sharing interactive visualization designs. The Vega `scale` expression function has the ability to call arbitrary functions with a single controlled argument. The scale expression function passes a user supplied argument group to getScale, which is then used as if it were an internal context. The context.scales[name].value is accessed from group and called as a function back in scale. This can be exploited to escape the Vega expression sandbox in order to execute arbitrary JavaScript. This issue has been fixed in version 5.13.1.

Published: 2023-03-04 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-26486 is rated High Exploit Risk (61.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.37%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-26486

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-26486

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-12 0.17% 0.37% +0.20%
2 2025-11-21 0.39% 0.17% -0.22%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.39% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-26486

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 2.5 [email protected]
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 2.7 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-26486

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-26486

GHSA-4vq7-882g-wcg4 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: npm — Vega Expression Language `scale` expression function Cross Site Scripting

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-26486

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-26486 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (vega.js), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-26486
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-26486
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-26486 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (vega.js), 4 status rows across 4 suites (jammy, noble, questing, upstream): not-affected 2, DNE 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-26486

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-26486

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vega-functions_project vega-functions < 5.13.1 cpe:2.3:a:vega-functions_project:vega-functions:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
vega_project vega < 5.23.0 cpe:2.3:a:vega_project:vega:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*

References for CVE-2023-26486

URL Tags
https://github.com/vega/vega/releases/tag/v5.23.0 Release Notes
https://github.com/vega/vega/security/advisories/GHSA-4vq7-882g-wcg4 Exploit Third Party Advisory
https://github.dev/vega/vega/blob/72b9b3bbf912212e7879b6acaccc84aff969ef1c/packages/vega-functions/src/functions/scale.js#L36-L37 Permissions Required
https://github.dev/vega/vega/blob/72b9b3bbf912212e7879b6acaccc84aff969ef1c/packages/vega-functions/src/scales.js#L6 Permissions Required
https://vega.github.io/editor/#/url/vega/N4IgJAzgxgFgpgWwIYgFwhgF0wBwqgegIDc4BzJAOjIEtMYBXAI0poHsDp5kTykSArJQBWENgDsQAGhAATJJhSoA2qHFIEcNCAAaAZT0ACAApsAwtJDEkAGwZwIaZQEYAujMwAnJOIgAzNk8EJ1BMAE8cLXQAoIYbFBkkR3QNNgZxTEs4AA8cT21oWzgACgByP3SoUqlDcTibGsNgKAlMHMxUJsKbB07gCvEoPus7OE7ukvLK6sNSuBHihTYmYoAdEABNAHVsmyhxAEU2AFk9AGsAdnWASmuZ5tb2von8JoGhppH7TuVXShbfF4GFBMIF-hIIECQYEAL5wmHXeEIkAw1yomFAA Exploit
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