[svgwg] Overflow property behavior / spec on SVG element doesn't match reality. (#1072)

emilio has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/svgwg:

== Overflow property behavior / spec on SVG element doesn't match reality. ==
https://svgwg.org/svg2-draft/render.html#OverflowAndClipProperties has:

> document root svg visible n/a visible | scroll visible hidden scroll
> other svg visible hidden visible | scroll visible hidden scroll


That clearly doesn't match reality:

```html
<!doctype html>
<svg style="overflow: auto" height="90px" width="90px">
  <svg style="overflow: visible" height="90px" width="90px" x="0" y="0">
    <rect id="overflows" height="100px" width="100px" fill="red" x="-5px" y="-5px" />
    <rect height="90px" width="90px" fill="green" />
  </svg>
</svg>

<br>
<br>

<svg style="overflow: visible" height="90px" width="90px">
  <svg style="overflow: auto" height="90px" width="90px" x="0" y="0">
    <rect id="overflows" height="100px" width="100px" fill="red" x="-5px" y="-5px" />
    <rect height="90px" width="90px" fill="green" />
  </svg>
</svg>
```

In all browsers, `auto` on the outer SVG clips. This matches the behavior on `<img>` for example, so I think it makes sense. On WebKit and Blink, `auto` on the inner SVG behaves as `visible`.

Instead, I think they should behave consistently. `auto` and other scrollable overflow should clip if `hidden` applies. That's what Firefox does.

Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/svgwg/issues/1072 using your GitHub account


-- 
Sent via github-notify-ml as configured in https://github.com/w3c/github-notify-ml-config

Received on Saturday, 7 March 2026 22:06:34 UTC