In daily content creation, Markdown is favored by content operators for its concise and efficient syntax.It allows us to focus on the content itself without having to pay too much attention to complex layout details.However, when we render Markdown content into HTML and present it on the website, a potential security risk - cross-site scripting attack (XSS) - emerges.Effectively prevent XSS attacks is a key factor in ensuring website security and maintaining user trust.
Understand Markdown Rendering and XSS Risk
The convenience of Markdown syntax lies in its ability to easily convert to structured HTML code. For example, a simple[链接](javascript:alert('XSS'))In its unprocessed state, it may become a hyperlink that executes malicious scripts after rendering.The core of XSS attacks lies in malicious users inserting client-side scripts into web pages, which are executed in the user's browser and may steal the user's Cookies, Session information, tamper with web content, or even carry out phishing attacks.For content entered using the Markdown editor, if it is rendered without processing, malicious scripts may be mixed in, posing a threat to the visitors.
AnQiCMS 的内置安全基石：English HTML 转义
AnQiCMS was designed with security in mind from the beginning, committed to providing a secure and reliable content management platform.Its powerful Go language foundation and modular design provide a solid guarantee for the high concurrency and security of the system.English HTML 转义.
This means that when we output content (including rendered HTML) from the backend to the frontend page, the template engine will, by default, escape all HTML tags and JS code. For example, it will<Symbol conversion<,>Converted to>,"Converted to"And so on. This default escaping mechanism effectively prevents potential malicious scripts (such as<script>alert('XSS')</script>）Converted to harmless plain text, making it impossible to execute in the user's browser, thereby fundamentally blocking the majority of XSS attacks.This is the first and most basic line of defense for AnQiCMS to protect the safety of website content.
Flexible control:|safeFilter and its use cases
However, in certain specific scenarios, we may indeed need to display pure HTML content rather than escaped text.For example, when you are writing articles in the Markdown editor of the AnQiCMS backend, and you want the images, links, and even some custom HTML structures to be displayed normally, automatic escaping will be 'overprotected', resulting in these contents being displayed in their original code form rather than the expected visual effect.
At this point, AnQiCMS provides|safeFilter.This filter will explicitly tell the template engine: I trust this part of the content, please do not escape it automatically, and output it directly in HTML format.archiveDetailThe example of label, if the Markdown editor is enabled and you want the content to be rendered as HTML, you will see something like{{archiveContent|safe}}Usage here.|safeIt is necessary because it assumes that the HTML processed by the Markdown parser is the structure we expect to display, rather than plain text that needs to be escaped again.
Although|safeThe filter provides great flexibility for content display, but be sure toUse with caution.It is equivalent to opening a trust channel, and if the content source is untrusted or not strictly reviewed, it may bring XSS risks.|safe.
Moreover, AnQiCMS also provides control during the Markdown rendering to HTML.archiveDetailandcategoryDetailof the tagsContentThe field will automatically convert content from Markdown to HTML when the Markdown editor is enabled. You can also throughrenderParameters are manually specified to determine whether to convert, for example,render=truePerform the conversion,render=falseor not convert. This provides us with more fine-grained control to ensure that content is displayed as expected.
Content Review: The First Line of Defense
The technical means are an important foundation for ensuring website security, but human review is also indispensable.AnQiCMS backend provides content security management and sensitive word filtering functions, which provides the first line of review barrier for content publishing.Even though the system has powerful automatic prevention mechanisms, it is still crucial to conduct manual review if the website allows users to submit content (such as comments, messages, or contributions) or imports content from unreliable external sources.Before publishing any Markdown document that may contain user input or third-party content, confirm that it does not contain malicious or inappropriate HTML/JavaScript code, which is a rule that every website operator should follow.
Other Security Practices
In addition to the XSS prevention strategies for Markdown rendering mentioned above, we should also develop good website operation habits and jointly build a website security defense line:
- Regularly update the system:AnQiCMS will continue to release updates, fix potential security vulnerabilities, and enhance functions. It is an important measure to prevent known attacks to upgrade the system to the latest version in a timely manner.
- Use a complex and unique password:Set a strong and unique password for the AnQiCMS backend administrator account and change it regularly.
- Allocate user permissions reasonably:Using the user group management feature of AnQiCMS, minimize the allocation of user permissions based on duties, to avoid unnecessary personnel having excessive operational permissions.
Through the built-in security mechanism of AnQiCMS,配合对|safeThe correct understanding and use of filters, as well as strict content review processes, allow you to safely leverage the rich expressiveness of Markdown while effectively preventing the risk of XSS attacks, providing your website visitors with a secure and clean browsing environment.
Common Questions (FAQ)
问：Is AnQiCMS automatically preventing XSS attacks by default?
答：是的，AnQiCMS 模板引擎在默认情况下会自动对输出到前端页面的 HTML 内容进行转义，例如将 auto 转换为 English<Converted to<Thus, it effectively prevents most common XSS attacks, and even if malicious scripts are included in Markdown, they will be safely displayed as text by default.
问：什么时候我应该使用 English|safe过滤器来渲染 Markdown 内容？ English
Answer:|safeThe filter should be used with great certainty. Generally, when you want the content written by AnQiCMS's Markdown editor (after processing by the system parser to generate HTML) to be displayed as formatted web elements as expected, rather than raw HTML