diff --git a/cypress/integration/loadSite.spec.ts b/cypress/integration/loadSite.spec.ts
index 0c58d373..c83d6d14 100644
--- a/cypress/integration/loadSite.spec.ts
+++ b/cypress/integration/loadSite.spec.ts
@@ -29,4 +29,14 @@ describe('Site Loads', () => {
 		cy.contains('Class Diagram').click();
 		cy.contains('classDiagram');
 	});
+
+	it('should prevent setting the "securityLevel" option via URL', () => {
+		const b64State = btoa(
+			`{"code":"graph TD\\nA[\\"<img src='https://via.placeholder.com/64' width=64></img>\\"]","mermaid":"{\\"securityLevel\\": \\"loose\\", \\"theme\\": \\"forest\\"}","updateEditor":true,"autoSync":true,"updateDiagram":true}`
+		);
+		cy.visit(`/edit#${b64State}`);
+		cy.contains('Config').click();
+		cy.contains('forest').should('exist');
+		cy.contains('securityLevel').should('not.exist');
+	});
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/components/view.svelte b/src/lib/components/view.svelte
index bca08fd5..4263be68 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/view.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/view.svelte
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 	import { onMount } from 'svelte';
 	import type { Mermaid } from 'mermaid';
 
-	const mermaid: Mermaid = (window.mermaid as unknown) as Mermaid;
+	const mermaid: Mermaid = window.mermaid as unknown as Mermaid;
 	let code = '';
 	let container: HTMLDivElement;
 	let error = false;
@@ -25,9 +25,7 @@
 					const scroll = container.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.scrollTop;
 					container.innerHTML = code;
 					delete container.dataset.processed;
-					mermaid.initialize(
-						Object.assign({}, JSON.parse(state.mermaid), { securityLevel: 'strict' })
-					); // Monkey patch: force securityLevel: strict to mitigate XSS attacks
+					mermaid.initialize(Object.assign({}, JSON.parse(state.mermaid)));
 					mermaid.render('graph-div', code, (svgCode) => {
 						container.innerHTML = svgCode;
 					});
diff --git a/src/lib/util/state.ts b/src/lib/util/state.ts
index ebb839d5..9a599ccc 100644
--- a/src/lib/util/state.ts
+++ b/src/lib/util/state.ts
@@ -35,9 +35,11 @@ export const loadState = (data: string): void => {
 		const stateStr = fromBase64(data);
 		console.log(`Tring to load state: ${stateStr}`);
 		state = JSON.parse(stateStr);
-		if (typeof state.mermaid !== 'string') {
-			state.mermaid = JSON.stringify(state.mermaid, null, 2);
-		}
+		const mermaidConfig =
+			typeof state.mermaid === 'string' ? JSON.parse(state.mermaid) : state.mermaid;
+		delete mermaidConfig.securityLevel; // Prevent setting overriding securityLevel when loading state to mitigate possible XSS attack
+
+		state.mermaid = JSON.stringify(mermaidConfig, null, 2);
 	} catch (e) {
 		if (data) {
 			console.error('Init error', e);