How severe is CVE-2020-15271?

CVE-2020-15271 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-15271?

CVE-2020-15271 affects the following packages: lookatme (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2020-15271?

Update lookatme to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15271 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-15271 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for lookatme, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-15271 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is CVE-2020-15271 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2020-15271, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-15271?

CVE-2020-15271 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.3%, placing it in the 83th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-15271?

CVE-2020-15271 is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2020-15271 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-15271 was published on October 26, 2020 and was last updated on July 9, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍

🐍 PyPI

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2020-15271 — lookatme

HIGHFix: d0c-s4vage/lookatme@72fe36b

CVE-2020-15271 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in lookatme. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for lookatme — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Markdown-supplied Shell Command Execution

Also known asGHSA-c84h-w6cr-5v8qPYSEC-2020-61

Published

Oct 26, 2020

Updated

Jul 9, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs83th percentile — riskier than 83% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2020-15271 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,987 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐍lookatme

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

lookatme versions prior to 2.3.0 automatically loaded the built-in "terminal" and "file_loader" extensions. Users that use lookatme to render untrusted markdown may have malicious shell commands automatically run on their system.

Patches

Users should upgrade to lookatme versions 2.3.0 or above.

Workarounds

The lookatme/contrib/terminal.py and lookatme/contrib/file_loader.py files may be manually deleted. Additionally, it is always recommended to be aware of what is being rendered with lookatme.

References

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in d0c-s4vage/lookatme

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`lookatme`	all versions	2.3.0`pip install --upgrade 'lookatme==2.3.0'`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

lookatmelookatme_project

< 2.3.0

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

In lookatme (python/pypi package) versions prior to 2.3.0, the package a…

github.comNVDNov 2020

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for lookatme, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update lookatme to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15271 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact lookatme versions prior to 2.3.0 automatically loaded the built-in "terminal" and "file_loader" extensions. Users that use lookatme to render untrusted markdown may have malicious shell commands automatically run on their system. ### Patches Users should upgrade to lookatme versions 2.3.0 or above. ### Workarounds The `lookatme/contrib/terminal.py` and `lookatme/contrib/file_loader.py` files may be manually deleted. Additionally, it is always recommended to be aware of what is being rendered with lookatme. ### References * https://github.com/d0c-s4vage/lookatme/pull/110 * htt