CVE-2020-26237

Prototype Pollution in highlight.js

HIGH
8.7
CVSS Score
Published: November 24, 2020 at 11:00 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:07 AM UTC
3 products affected across 3 vendorsDebian LinuxMySQL Enterprise MonitorHighlightjs

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Severity
HIGH8.7
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1%

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 10.1.2v < 9.18.210.1.0 ≤ v < 10.1.2
Affected range stops below 10.1.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 9.18.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-471

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