removeDimensions removes `width` and `height` from nested SVG elements

[vrugtehagel]

Describe the bug
The removeDimensions option removes width and height attributes from nested <svg> elements, even when it is unsafe to do so.

To Reproduce
Take this example SVG:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 10 10">
	<path fill="pink" d="M0 0h10v10H0Z"/>
	<svg x="1" y="1" width="8" height="8" viewBox="0 0 33 33">
		<path fill="red" d="M1 16a1 1 0 0 0 31 1 1 1 0 0 0-31-1"/>
	</svg>
</svg>

One can use SVGOMG to quickly see that toggling the "Prefer viewBox to width/height" shows a significant change in the rendered SVG.

Expected behavior
It is expected that this option only affects the outermost <svg> element, since the width and height on nested <svg> elements are used to correctly size and position the nested SVG.

Screenshots

Original SVG (rendered as PNG):

Compressed SVG (as PNG):

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• SVGO 4.0.1
• Node v22.22.1
• OS: MacOS Tahoe 26.2

[GreLI]

removeDimensions is unsafe by definition. Why would do you expect it not do what its purpose to?

[vrugtehagel]

I would expect it to do what it says in the docs (emphasis mine).

Removes the width and height attribute from the top-most element if specified, and replaces it with the viewBox attribute if it's missing.

In general this is not an unsafe operation, at least not on the outer-most <svg> element, because for standalone SVGs the intrinsic size is specified on the <img> (or not at all), which is more ergonomic and gives authors more control over how the image stretches. For inline SVGs, width and height are usually set through CSS.