The web application does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes scripting elements within attributes of HTML IMG tags, such as the src attribute.
Attackers can embed XSS exploits into the values for IMG attributes (e.g. SRC) that is streamed and then executed in a victim's browser. Note that when the page is loaded into a user's browsers, the exploit will automatically execute.

Resultant

Implementation

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Read Application Data
Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Implementation
Output Encoding

Use and specify an output encoding that can be handled by the downstream component that is reading the output. Common encodings include ISO-8859-1, UTF-7, and UTF-8. When an encoding is not specified, a downstream component may choose a different encoding, either by assuming a default encoding or automatically inferring which encoding is being used, which can be erroneous. When the encodings are inconsistent, the downstream component might treat some character or byte sequences as special, even if they are not special in the original encoding. Attackers might then be able to exploit this discrepancy and conduct injection attacks; they even might be able to bypass protection mechanisms that assume the original encoding is also being used by the downstream component.
The problem of inconsistent output encodings often arises in web pages. If an encoding is not specified in an HTTP header, web browsers often guess about which encoding is being used. This can open up the browser to subtle XSS attacks.

Implementation
Attack Surface Reduction
To help mitigate XSS attacks against the user's session cookie, set the session cookie to be HttpOnly. In browsers that support the HttpOnly feature (such as more recent versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox), this attribute can prevent the user's session cookie from being accessible to malicious client-side scripts that use document.cookie. This is not a complete solution, since HttpOnly is not supported by all browsers. More importantly, XMLHTTPRequest and other powerful browser technologies provide read access to HTTP headers, including the Set-Cookie header in which the HttpOnly flag is set.
Defense in Depth

CVE-2006-3211
Stored XSS in a guestbook application using a javascript: URI in a bbcode img tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2006-3211

CVE-2002-1649
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1649

CVE-2002-1803
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1803

CVE-2002-1804
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1804

CVE-2002-1805
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1805

CVE-2002-1806
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1806

CVE-2002-1807
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1807

CVE-2002-1808
javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1808

Script in IMG tags

SFP24
Tainted input to command

Allowed
This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

PLOVER
2006-07-19
Draft 3
2006-07-19

Eric Dalci
Cigital
2008-07-01
updated Time_of_Introduction

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2008-09-08
updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2008-10-14
updated Description

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2009-05-27
updated Description, Name

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2009-10-29
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2009-12-28
updated Observed_Examples

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2010-06-21
updated Description, Name, Potential_Mitigations

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2011-06-01
updated Common_Consequences

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2012-05-11
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2012-10-30
updated Potential_Mitigations

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2014-07-30
updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2017-05-03
updated Related_Attack_Patterns

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2017-11-08
updated Applicable_Platforms

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2020-02-24
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-04-27
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-06-29
updated Mapping_Notes

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2025-12-11
4.19
2025-12-11
updated Applicable_Platforms, Weakness_Ordinalities

Script in IMG Tags
Failure to Sanitize Script in Attributes of IMG Tags in a Web Page
Improper Sanitization of Script in Attributes of IMG Tags in a Web Page