CVE-2026-121373: The Symfony HtmlSanitizer component MetaRefreshAttributeSanitizer, introduced to fix CVE-2026-48761, sanitizes the refresh URL of content attributes of meta tag

The Symfony HtmlSanitizer component MetaRefreshAttributeSanitizer, introduced to fix CVE-2026-48761, sanitizes the refresh URL of content attributes of meta tag

The Symfony HtmlSanitizer component MetaRefreshAttributeSanitizer, introduced to fix CVE-2026-48761, sanitizes the refresh URL of content attributes of meta tags using a regular expression that is too narrow, allowing sanitization to be bypassed, and resulting in potential URL redirection to untrusted sites in Symfony versions 6.1.x prior to 6.4.50, 7.x prior to 7.4.23, and 8.x prior to 8.1.11. The shared declarative refresh steps in the WHATWG HTML Standard require a broader approach: the separator after the time may be ASCII whitespace alone, with no ; or ,, and the url= keyword is optional. Directives the browser honours, but the regular expression misses are returned unchanged, so the attacker URL skips UrlSanitizer entirely and both allowLinkSchemes and allowLinkHosts are defeated for the refresh navigation. This is reachable under any configuration that allows meta with http-equiv and content, including the documented allowStaticElements() preset.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 596c5446-0ce5-4ba2-aa66-48b3b757a647

What it means for a small business

If your business uses symfony, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.48%, higher than 41% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored November 7, 2026, updated daily.

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Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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