Go Text + HTML Templating How HTML templates prevent malicious code injection

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Example

First, here's what can happen when text/template is used for HTML. Note Harry's FirstName property).

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "html/template"
    "os"
)

type Person struct {
    FirstName string
    LastName  string
    Street    string
    City      string
    State     string
    Zip       string
    AvatarUrl string
}

func main() {
    const (
        letter = `<html><body><table>
<tr><th></th><th>Name</th><th>Address</th></tr>
{{range .}}
<tr>
<td><img src="{{.AvatarUrl}}"></td>
<td>{{.FirstName}} {{.LastName}}</td>
<td>{{.Street}}, {{.City}}, {{.State}} {{.Zip}}</td>
</tr>
{{end}}
</table></body></html>`
    )

    tmpl, err := template.New("letter").Parse(letter)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err.Error())
    }

    harry := Person{
        FirstName: `Harry<script>alert("You've been hacked!")</script>`,
        LastName:  "Jones",
        Street:    "1234 Main St.",
        City:      "Springfield",
        State:     "IL",
        Zip:       "12345-6789",
        AvatarUrl: "harry.png",
    }

    jane := Person{
        FirstName: "Jane",
        LastName:  "Sherman",
        Street:    "8511 1st Ave.",
        City:      "Dayton",
        State:     "OH",
        Zip:       "18515-6261",
        AvatarUrl: "jane.png",
    }

    tmpl.Execute(os.Stdout, []Person{harry, jane})
}

Results in:

<html><body><table>
<tr><th></th><th>Name</th><th>Address</th></tr>

<tr>
<td><img src="harry.png"></td>
<td>Harry<script>alert("You've been hacked!")</script> Jones</td>
<td>1234 Main St., Springfield, IL 12345-6789</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td><img src="jane.png"></td>
<td>Jane Sherman</td>
<td>8511 1st Ave., Dayton, OH 18515-6261</td>
</tr>

</table></body></html>

The above example, if accessed from a browser, would result in the script being executed an an alert being generated. If, instead, the html/template were imported instead of text/template, the script would be safely sanitized:

<html><body><table>
<tr><th></th><th>Name</th><th>Address</th></tr>

<tr>
<td><img src="harry.png"></td>
<td>Harry&lt;script&gt;alert(&#34;You&#39;ve been hacked!&#34;)&lt;/script&gt; Jones</td>
<td>1234 Main St., Springfield, IL 12345-6789</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td><img src="jane.png"></td>
<td>Jane Sherman</td>
<td>8511 1st Ave., Dayton, OH 18515-6261</td>
</tr>

</table></body></html>

The second result would look garbled when loaded in a browser, but would not result in a potentially malicious script executing.



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