CVE-2025-53624: docusaurus-plugin-content-gists vulnerability exposes GitHub Personal Access Token

GitHub Personal Access Token Exposure in docusaurus-plugin-content-gists

Summary

docusaurus-plugin-content-gists versions prior to 4.0.0 are vulnerable to exposing GitHub Personal Access Tokens in production build artifacts when passed through plugin configuration options. The token, intended for build-time API access only, is inadvertently included in client-side JavaScript bundles, making it accessible to anyone who can view the website's source code.

Affected Versions

• All versions < 4.0.0

Patched Versions

• Version 4.0.0 and later

Impact

When using the affected versions with the recommended configuration pattern:

plugins: [
  [
    'docusaurus-plugin-content-gists',
    {
      personalAccessToken: process.env.GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN,
    },
  ],
]

The GitHub Personal Access Token is included in the webpack bundle and exposed in production builds at:

• /build/assets/js/main.[hash].js

This allows malicious actors to:

• Extract the GitHub Personal Access Token from the website's JavaScript files
• Use the stolen token to access the token owner's GitHub account with the granted permissions
• Potentially access private gists, repositories, or perform other actions depending on the token's scope

Mitigation steps

1. Immediately revoke access to the GitHub PAT that was used: https://github.com/settings/tokens

Migration steps

1. Update to version 4.0.0+: npm install docusaurus-plugin-content-gists@^4.0.0
2. Remove personalAccessToken from your plugin configuration
3. Ensure GH_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN is set in your build environment