CVE-2020-15092
MEDIUMCVE-2020-15092 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.8) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in @knight-lab/timelinejs. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-15092 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Stored XSS in TimelineJS3
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
@knight-lab/timelinejsnpmDescription
In TimelineJS before version 3.7.0, some user data renders as HTML. An attacker could implement an XSS exploit with maliciously crafted content in a number of data fields. This risk is present whether the source data for the timeline is stored on Google Sheets or in a JSON configuration file. Most TimelineJS users configure their timeline with a Google Sheets document. Those users are exposed to this vulnerability if they grant write access to the document to a malicious inside attacker, if the access of a trusted user is compromised, or if they grant public write access to the document. Some TimelineJS users configure their timeline with a JSON document. Those users are exposed to this vulnerability if they grant write access to the document to a malicious inside attacker, if the access of a trusted user is compromised, or if write access to the system hosting that document is otherwise compromised. Version 3.7.0 of TimelineJS addresses this in two ways. For content which is intended to support limited HTML markup for styling and linking, that content is "sanitized" before being added to the DOM. For content intended for simple text display, all markup is stripped. Very few users of TimelineJS actually install the TimelineJS code on their server. Most users publish a timeline using a URL hosted on systems we control. The fix for this issue is published to our system such that those users will automatically begin using the new code. The only exception would be users who have deliberately edited the embed URL to "pin" their timeline to an earlier version of the code. Some users of TimelineJS use it as a part of a wordpress plugin (knight-lab-timelinejs). Version 3.7.0.0 of that plugin and newer integrate the updated code. Users are encouraged to update the plugin rather than manually update the embedded version of TimelineJS.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @knight-lab/timelinejs | all versions | 3.7.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @knight-lab/timelinejs. 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 @knight-lab/timelinejs to 3.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15092 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-2020-15092 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-2020-15092. 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-2020-15092 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-15092 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.