Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

JavaScript JavaScript Loops, Arrays and Objects Tracking Multiple Items with Arrays Build a Quiz Challenge, Part 2

Jake Ford
Jake Ford
9,230 Points
Posted by Jake Ford
Jake Ford
9,230 Points

Isn't using innerHTML() a security issue?

I have heard that using the innerHTML() function can make a script vulnerable to XSS attacks(Cross Site Scripting). Has anyone else heard this before? Are there alternatives to innerHTML? Maybe using textContent() as discussed here:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16860287/security-comparison-of-eval-and-innerhtml-for-clientside-javascript

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,785 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,785 Points

:point_right: It's only a security issue it it inserts user-provided values.

If you use it to insert static data or something generated without including any inputs from the user, it's not a security concern.

Anytime you put user data on a page it must be encoded or "sanitized". There are a variety of htmlEncode functions available for doing this.

Jake Ford
Jake Ford
9,230 Points
Jake Ford
Jake Ford
9,230 Points

Thanks Steven! I'll check out those htmlEncode functions.