CVE-2020-35907 — futures-task
MEDIUMCVE-2020-35907 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in futures-task. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for futures-task — see the affected versions and patch details below.
futures_task::noop_waker_ref can segfault due to dereferencing a NULL pointer
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
futures-taskReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Affected versions of the crate used a UnsafeCell in thread-local storage to return a noop waker reference, assuming that the reference would never be returned from another thread.
This resulted in a segmentation fault crash if Waker::wake_by_ref() was called on a waker returned from another thread due to it attempting to dereference a pointer that wasn't accessible from the main thread.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | futures-task | all versions | 0.3.5cargo update -p futures-task --precise 0.3.5 |
Affected Products
futures-taskrust-langResearch 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 futures-task, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update futures-task to 0.3.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-35907 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-35907 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.