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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2019-20920

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2020-09-30
  • Fixed in4.5.3 · 3.0.8
  • WeaknessCWE-94

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Handlebars before 3.0.8 and 4.x before 4.5.3 is vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution. The lookup helper fails to properly validate templates, allowing attackers to submit templates that execute arbitrary JavaScript. This can be used to run arbitrary code on a server processing Handlebars templates or in a victim's browser (effectively serving as XSS).

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2020-09-3018:15CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

NVD · OSV
Handlebarsjs handlebars
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.x≥ 4.0.0, < 4.5.34.5.3
3.0< 3.0.83.0.8

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • @rootio/handlebarsRoot:npmall versions · fixed in 3.0.7-root.io.3
  • @rootio/handlebarsRoot:npmall versions · fixed in 3.0.3-root.io.2
  • @rootio/handlebarsRoot:npmall versions · fixed in 3.0.8-root.io.1
  • @rootio/handlebarsRoot:npmall versions · fixed in 3.0.8-root.io.2
  • code-serverWolfiall versions · fixed in 0and 1 other package
  • code-serverChainguardall versions · fixed in 0and 65 other packages
  • commercial-gitlab-rails-ee-assets-19.1Chainguardall versions · no fixed version listedand 3 other packages
  • gitlab-rails-19.1MinimOSall versions · fixed in 0

15 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2019-20920 Red Hat Product Security7 products fixed · 9 known affected

    nodejs-handlebars: lookup helper fails to properly validate templates allowing for arbitrary JavaScript execution

    servicemesh-grafana as a component of OpenShift Service Mesh 1 · servicemesh-grafana-prometheus as a component of OpenShift Service Mesh 1 · servicemesh-grafana.src as a component of OpenShift Service Mesh 1 · +6 more

  • RHSA-2023:1334 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Process Automation Manager 7.13.2 security update

  • RHSA-2021:3917 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Quay v3.6.0 security, bug fix and enhancement update

  • RHSA-2021:2500 Red Hat Product Security3 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise security and bug fix update

  • RHSA-2020:5179 Red Hat Product Security2 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Virtualization security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Update Handlebarsjs handlebars to 4.5.3 · 3.0.8
  2. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2023:1334 · 1 productFor on-premise installations, before applying the update, back up your existing installation including all applications, configuration files, databases and database settings, and so on. Red Hat recommends that you halt the server by stopping the JBoss Application Server process before installing t…
  3. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2021:3917 · 1 productFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
  4. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2021:2500 · 3 productsFor OpenShift Container Platform 4.6 see the following documentation, which will be updated shortly for this release, for important instructions on how to upgrade your cluster and fully apply this asynchronous errata update: https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/4.6/release_notes/ocp-4-6-r…
  5. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2020:5179 · 2 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/2974891
  6. No fix planned, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2019-20920 · 9 productsWill not fix

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
Published
2020-09-30
Last Modified
2026-10-08
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-3cqr-58rm-57f8

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-20920?

Handlebars before 3.0.8 and 4.x before 4.5.3 is vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution. The lookup helper fails to properly validate templates, allowing attackers to submit templates that execute arbitrary JavaScript. This can be used to run arbitrary code on a server processing Handlebars templates or in a victim's browser (effectively serving as XSS).

Is CVE-2019-20920 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-20920 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 3.2% on 2026-11-08, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-20920?

CVE-2019-20920 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.1 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L.

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