[svgwg] Issue: Overflow property behavior / spec on SVG element doesn't match reality. (#1072) marked as Agenda+

karlcow has just labeled an issue for https://github.com/w3c/svgwg as "Agenda+":

== 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.

See https://github.com/w3c/svgwg/issues/1072


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Received on Wednesday, 18 March 2026 13:17:34 UTC