CVE-2020-26306 — knwl.js
Fix: benhmoore/Knwl@88aa966CVE-2020-26306 is a CWE-1333 vulnerability in knwl.js. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Knwl.js Regular Expression Denial of Service vulnerability
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2020-26306.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
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.
knwl.jsnpmDescription
Knwl.js is a Javascript library that parses through text for dates, times, phone numbers, emails, places, and more. Versions 1.0.2 and prior contain one or more regular expressions that are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS). As of time of publication, no known patches are available.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | knwl.js | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for knwl.js, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of knwl.js has shipped for CVE-2020-26306 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2020-26306 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2020-26306. 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-2020-26306 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2020-26306 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.