Highlight.js is a syntax highlighter written in JavaScript. Highlight.js versions before 9.18.2 and 10.1.2 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution. A malicious HTML code block can be crafted that will result in prototype pollution of the base object's prototype during highlighting. If you allow users to insert custom HTML code blocks into your page/app via parsing Markdown code blocks (or similar) and do not filter the language names the user can provide you may be vulnerable. The pollution should just be harmless data but this can cause problems for applications not expecting these properties to exist and can result in strange behavior or application crashes, i.e. a potential DOS vector. If your website or application does not render user provided data it should be unaffected. Versions 9.18.2 and 10.1.2 and newer include fixes for this vulnerability. If you are using version 7 or 8 you are encouraged to upgrade to a newer release.
CVE-2020-26237
This medium-severity CVE scores 5.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit-prediction score not yet available (the EPSS model rescores nightly; freshly-published CVEs typically appear within 48 hours). GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 5.8
- EG Score
- 5.8(low)
- EPSS
- 67.0%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
November 24, 2020
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (12)
- security-advisories@githubhttps://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/commit/7241013ae011a585983e176ddc0489a7a52f6bb0
- security-advisories@githubhttps://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/pull/2636
- security-advisories@githubhttps://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/security/advisories/GHSA-vfrc-7r7c-w9mx
- security-advisories@githubhttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00041.html
- security-advisories@githubhttps://www.npmjs.com/package/highlight.js
- security-advisories@githubhttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/commit/7241013ae011a585983e176ddc0489a7a52f6bb0
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/pull/2636
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/security/advisories/GHSA-vfrc-7r7c-w9mx
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00041.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.npmjs.com/package/highlight.js
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html
Patch Availability(2)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | node-highlight.js (8.2+ds-4ubuntu0.1~esm1) @ xenial | 2026-05-23 | ubuntu |
| redhat | quay/quay-rhel8:v3.6.0-62 | 2021-10-19 | redhat |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(1 across 1 ecosystem)
npm(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| highlight.js | — | 10.1.2 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(2)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 39× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-24 08:29 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 12:29 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-24 16:48 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-23 04:53 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-23 04:53 UTCVendor advisory
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2020-26237?
When was CVE-2020-26237 disclosed?
Is CVE-2020-26237 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-26237?
How do I remediate CVE-2020-26237?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2020-26237
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