CVE-2020-28272 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability in keyget. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for keyget — see the affected versions and patch details below.
keyget vulnerable to prototype pollution
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
keygetnpmDescription
Overview
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'keyget' versions 1.0.0 through 2.2.0 allows attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
Details
The npm module 'keyget' can be abused by Prototype Pollution vulnerability since the function 'setByPath()' did not check for the type of object before assigning value to the property. Due to this flaw an attacker could create a non-existent property or able to manipulate the property which leads to Denial of Service or potentially Remote code execution.
PoC Details
The setByPath() function accepts three arguments target, path, value. Due to the absence of validation, at values passed into path, value an attacker can supply a malicious value by adjusting the path value to include the __proto__ property. Since there is no validation before assigning property to check whether the assigned path is the Object's own property or not, the property polluted will be directly be assigned to the empty obj({}) thereby polluting the Object prototype. Later in the code, if there is a check to validate polluted the value would be substituted as "true" as it had been polluted.
PoC Code
var keyget = require("keyget")
keyget.set({}, '__proto__.polluted', 'true');
console.log(polluted);
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | keyget | ≥ 1.0.0&&< 2.3.0 | 2.3.0npm install keyget@2.3.0 |
Affected Products
keygetkeyget_projectResearch 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 keyget, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update keyget to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-28272 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-28272 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.