Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) mainly presents as stroke, cognitive and emotional disorders, and overall functional decline, with diffuse white matter injury being an important imaging feature of the disease. The pathogenesis of CSVD is still unclear, and there is a lack of effective treatment options. Therefore, a good model of white matter injury is essential for studying its pathophysiological mechanisms. This review discusses the research progress of white matter injury models in combination with the current status of domestic and international studies. It focuses on the selection of animal types and modeling methods to provide reference ideas for the selection of white matter injury models.