CVE-2020-26284 — hugo
HIGHCVE-2020-26284 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.5) OS Command Injection vulnerability in github.com/gohugoio/hugo. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for github.com/gohugoio/hugo — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Hugo can execute a binary from the current directory on Windows
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-26284 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/gohugoio/hugoReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Hugo is a fast and Flexible Static Site Generator built in Go. Hugo depends on Go's os/exec for certain features, e.g. for rendering of Pandoc documents if these binaries are found in the system %PATH% on Windows. In Hugo before version 0.79.1, if a malicious file with the same name (exe or bat) is found in the current working directory at the time of running hugo, the malicious command will be invoked instead of the system one. Windows users who run hugo inside untrusted Hugo sites are affected. Users should upgrade to Hugo v0.79.1. Other than avoiding untrusted Hugo sites, there is no workaround.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/gohugoio/hugo | all versions | 0.79.1go get github.com/gohugoio/hugo@v0.79.1 |
Affected Products
hugogohugoResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/gohugoio/hugo, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/gohugoio/hugo to 0.79.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-26284 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
Is CVE-2020-26284 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.