CVE-2020-14001 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-862 vulnerability in kramdown. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-14001 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Unintended read access in kramdown gem
Real-World Exposure
kramdownReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The kramdown gem before 2.3.0 for Ruby processes the template option inside Kramdown documents by default, which allows unintended read access (such as template="/etc/passwd") or unintended embedded Ruby code execution (such as a string that begins with template="string://<%= `). NOTE: kramdown is used in Jekyll, GitLab Pages, GitHub Pages, and Thredded Forum.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | kramdown | all versions | 2.3.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for kramdown. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update kramdown to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-14001 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-14001 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2020-14001. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-14001 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-14001 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.