diff --git a/src/domain/Challenge.ts b/src/domain/Challenge.ts
index 53a22d4..110faf1 100644
--- a/src/domain/Challenge.ts
+++ b/src/domain/Challenge.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { ChallengeDomain as LegacyChallengeDomain } from "@topcoder-framework/domain-acl";
 import { DomainHelper, PhaseFactRequest, PhaseFactResponse } from "@topcoder-framework/lib-common";
-import xss from "xss";
+import { sanitize } from "../helpers/Sanitizer";
 import CoreOperations from "../common/CoreOperations";
 import { Value } from "../dal/models/nosql/parti_ql";
 import IdGenerator from "../helpers/IdGenerator";
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ class ChallengeDomain extends CoreOperations<Challenge, CreateChallengeInput> {
   }
 
   public async create(input: CreateChallengeInput, metadata: Metadata): Promise<Challenge> {
-    input.name = xss(input.name);
+    input.name = sanitize(input.name);
 
     // prettier-ignore
     const handle = metadata?.get("handle").length > 0 ? metadata?.get("handle")?.[0].toString() : "tcwebservice";
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class ChallengeDomain extends CoreOperations<Challenge, CreateChallengeInput> {
     if (Array.isArray(input.discussions)) {
       for (const discussion of input.discussions) {
         discussion.id = IdGenerator.generateUUID();
-        discussion.name = xss(discussion.name.substring(0, 100));
+        discussion.name = sanitize(discussion.name.substring(0, 100));
       }
     }
 
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ class ChallengeDomain extends CoreOperations<Challenge, CreateChallengeInput> {
 
     // End Anti-Corruption Layer
 
+    // prettier-ignore
     const challenge: Challenge = {
       id: IdGenerator.generateUUID(),
       created: now,
@@ -177,8 +178,8 @@ class ChallengeDomain extends CoreOperations<Challenge, CreateChallengeInput> {
       legacy,
       phases,
       legacyId: legacyChallengeId != null ? legacyChallengeId : undefined,
-      description: xss(input.description ?? ""),
-      privateDescription: xss(input.privateDescription ?? ""),
+      description: sanitize(input.description ?? "", input.descriptionFormat),
+      privateDescription: sanitize(input.privateDescription ?? "", input.descriptionFormat),
       metadata:
         input.metadata.map((m) => {
           let parsedValue = m.value;
@@ -286,14 +287,14 @@ class ChallengeDomain extends CoreOperations<Challenge, CreateChallengeInput> {
       scanCriteria,
       // prettier-ignore
       {
-        name: input.name != null ? xss(input.name) : undefined,
+        name: input.name != null ? sanitize(input.name) : undefined,
         typeId: input.typeId != null ? input.typeId : undefined,
         trackId: input.trackId != null ? input.trackId : undefined,
         timelineTemplateId: input.timelineTemplateId != null ? input.timelineTemplateId : undefined,
         legacy: input.legacy != null ? input.legacy : undefined,
         billing: input.billing != null ? input.billing : undefined,
-        description: input.description != null ? xss(input.description) : undefined,
-        privateDescription: input.privateDescription != null ? xss(input.privateDescription) : undefined,
+        description: input.description != null ? sanitize(input.description, input.descriptionFormat ?? challenge.descriptionFormat) : undefined,
+        privateDescription: input.privateDescription != null ? sanitize(input.privateDescription, input.descriptionFormat ?? challenge.descriptionFormat) : undefined,
         descriptionFormat: input.descriptionFormat != null ? input.descriptionFormat : undefined,
         task: input.task != null ? input.task : undefined,
         winners: input.winnerUpdate != null ? input.winnerUpdate.winners : undefined,
diff --git a/src/helpers/Sanitizer.ts b/src/helpers/Sanitizer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d63567f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/Sanitizer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import * as xss from "xss";
+
+const xssWhiteTags = xss.getDefaultWhiteList();
+for (const key of Object.keys(xssWhiteTags)) {
+  // Allow style attribute
+  if (!xssWhiteTags[key]?.includes("style")) {
+    xssWhiteTags[key]?.push("style");
+  }
+}
+
+// XSS filter for html
+const htmlXSS = new xss.FilterXSS();
+
+// XSS filter for markdown
+const markdownXSS = new xss.FilterXSS({
+  whiteList: xssWhiteTags,
+  escapeHtml: (html) => {
+    const splitted = html.split("\n");
+    return splitted
+      .map((str) => {
+        // Handle blockquote which starts with '>'
+        const blockquoteMatched = str.match(/^\s*>/);
+        if (blockquoteMatched) {
+          // prettier-ignore
+          return blockquoteMatched[0] + str.substring(blockquoteMatched[0].length).replace(/</g, "&lt;").replace(/>/g, "&gt;");
+        }
+        return str.replace(/</g, "&lt;").replace(/>/g, "&gt;");
+      })
+      .join("\n");
+  },
+});
+
+export function sanitize(str: string, format: string = "html"): string {
+  if (!str) {
+    return str;
+  }
+  return format === "markdown" ? markdownXSS.process(str) : htmlXSS.process(str);
+}