CVE-2020-28458 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) CWE-1321 vulnerability in datatables.net. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for datatables.net — see the affected versions and patch details below.
datatables.net vulnerable to Prototype Pollution due to incomplete fix
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-28458 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
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.
datatables.netnpmDescription
All versions of package datatables.net are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution due to an incomplete fix for https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-DATATABLESNET-598806.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | datatables.net | all versions | 1.10.22npm install datatables.net@1.10.22 |
Affected Products
datatables.netdatatablesResearch 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 datatables.net, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update datatables.net to 1.10.22 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-28458 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.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
OpenShift console container does package a vulnerable version of datatables.net, however as access to the vulnerable component is restricted via OpenShift OAuth the vulnerability is rated with an impact of `Low`.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Virtualization 4 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | cockpit-ovirt-0:0.14.20-1.el8ev | RHSA-2021:1184 |
| Red Hat Virtualization Engine 4.4 | ovirt-web-ui-0:1.6.7-1.el8ev | RHSA-2021:1169 |
| Red Hat Virtualization Engine 4.4 | ovirt-engine-ui-extensions-0:1.2.5-1.el8ev | RHSA-2021:1186 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-28458 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.