diff --git a/static/xref/script.js b/static/xref/script.js
index 2c2c3bf6..6c143ace 100644
--- a/static/xref/script.js
+++ b/static/xref/script.js
@@ -174,33 +174,36 @@ function renderResults(entries, query) {
 
 function howToCiteIDL(term, entry) {
   const { type, for: forList } = entry;
+  const safeTerm = escapeHTML(term);
   if (forList) {
     return forList
       .map(f => {
-        const termPart = type === 'enum-value' ? `"${term}"` : term;
-        return `{{${f}/${term ? termPart : '""'}}}`;
+        const safeF = escapeHTML(f);
+        const termPart = type === 'enum-value' ? `"${safeTerm}"` : safeTerm;
+        return `{{${safeF}/${safeTerm ? termPart : '""'}}}`;
       })
       .join('<br>');
   }
   switch (type) {
     case 'exception':
       if (!exceptionExceptions.has(term)) {
-        return `{{"${term}"}}`;
+        return `{{"${safeTerm}"}}`;
       }
     default:
-      return `{{${term}}}`;
+      return `{{${safeTerm}}}`;
   }
 }
 
 function howToCiteMarkup(term, entry) {
   const { type, for: forList, shortname } = entry;
+  const safeTerm = escapeHTML(term);
   if (forList) {
-    return forList.map(f => `[^${f}/${term}^]`).join('<br>');
+    return forList.map(f => `[^${escapeHTML(f)}/${safeTerm}^]`).join('<br>');
   }
   if (type === 'element-attr') {
-    return `[^/${term}^]`;
+    return `[^/${safeTerm}^]`;
   }
-  return `[^${term}^]`;
+  return `[^${safeTerm}^]`;
 }
 
 function howToCiteAnchor(term, entry) {
@@ -220,9 +223,9 @@ function howToCiteAnchor(term, entry) {
 
 function howToCiteTerm(term, entry) {
   const { type, for: forList, shortname } = entry;
-  term = term.replace('/', '\\/');
+  term = escapeHTML(term.replace('/', '\\/'));
   if (forList) {
-    return forList.map(f => `[=${f}/${term}=]`).join('<br>');
+    return forList.map(f => `[=${escapeHTML(f)}/${term}=]`).join('<br>');
   }
   return `[=${term}=]`;
 }
diff --git a/tests/static/xref/script.test.js b/tests/static/xref/script.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..af13e283
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/static/xref/script.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import vm from "node:vm";
+
+// static/xref/script.js is a plain browser script (not a module) that touches
+// DOM globals at load time, so it can't be imported directly. Instead, slice
+// out the pure citation helpers and the exceptionExceptions set, then evaluate
+// them in an isolated context. This exercises the real source, not a copy.
+const SRC = fileURLToPath(
+  new URL("../../../static/xref/script.js", import.meta.url),
+);
+const text = readFileSync(SRC, "utf8");
+
+const fnBlock = text.slice(
+  text.indexOf("function howToCiteIDL"),
+  text.indexOf("async function ready"),
+);
+const excStart = text.indexOf("const exceptionExceptions");
+const excBlock = text.slice(excStart, text.indexOf("]);", excStart) + 3);
+
+const sandbox = {};
+vm.createContext(sandbox);
+vm.runInContext(
+  `${excBlock}\n${fnBlock}\n` +
+    "this.howToCiteIDL = howToCiteIDL;" +
+    "this.howToCiteMarkup = howToCiteMarkup;" +
+    "this.howToCiteTerm = howToCiteTerm;",
+  sandbox,
+);
+const { howToCiteIDL, howToCiteMarkup, howToCiteTerm } = sandbox;
+
+const XSS = "<img src=x onerror=alert(1)>";
+
+describe("xref/script - citation HTML escaping", () => {
+  it("escapes the term and for-context in IDL citations", () => {
+    expect(howToCiteIDL(XSS, { type: "attribute", for: ["Window"] })).not.toContain(
+      "<img",
+    );
+    expect(
+      howToCiteIDL("postMessage", { type: "method", for: ["<f>"] }),
+    ).toContain("&lt;f&gt;");
+    expect(howToCiteIDL(XSS, { type: "interface" })).not.toContain("<img");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes the term and for-context in markup citations", () => {
+    expect(
+      howToCiteMarkup(XSS, { type: "element", for: ["<f>"] }),
+    ).not.toContain("<img");
+    expect(howToCiteMarkup(XSS, { type: "element-attr" })).not.toContain("<img");
+    expect(howToCiteMarkup(XSS, { type: "element" })).not.toContain("<img");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes the term and for-context in dfn-term citations", () => {
+    expect(howToCiteTerm(XSS, { type: "dfn" })).not.toContain("<img");
+    expect(howToCiteTerm("x", { type: "dfn", for: ["<f>"] })).toContain(
+      "&lt;f&gt;",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("leaves ordinary citations unchanged", () => {
+    expect(
+      howToCiteIDL("postMessage", { type: "method", for: ["Window"] }),
+    ).toBe("{{Window/postMessage}}");
+    expect(
+      howToCiteIDL("classic", { type: "enum-value", for: ["WorkerType"] }),
+    ).toBe('{{WorkerType/"classic"}}');
+    expect(howToCiteTerm("a/b", { type: "dfn" })).toBe("[=a\\/b=]");
+  });
+
+  it("renders the empty-term fallback (the touched truthiness branch)", () => {
+    // `escapeHTML("")` is still falsy, so the `safeTerm ? termPart : '""'`
+    // branch must keep producing the empty-string placeholder.
+    expect(howToCiteIDL("", { type: "method", for: ["Window"] })).toBe(
+      '{{Window/""}}',
+    );
+  });
+});