CVE-2020-36461
HIGHCVE-2020-36461 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) CWE-77 vulnerability in noise_search. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-36461 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Data races in noise_search
Real-World Exposure
noise_searchReal-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 noise_search crate unconditionally implement Send/Sync for MvccRwLock.
This can lead to data races when types that are either !Send or !Sync (e.g. Rc<T>, Arc<Cell<_>>) are contained inside MvccRwLock and sent across thread boundaries. The data races can potentially lead to memory corruption (as demonstrated in the PoC from the original report issue).
Also, safe APIs of MvccRwLock allow aliasing violations by allowing &T and LockResult<MutexGuard<Box<T>>> to co-exist in conflicting lifetime regions. The APIs of MvccRwLock should either be marked as unsafe or MbccRwLock should be changed to private or pub(crate).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | noise_search | all versions | No fix |
Research 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 noise_search. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Remediation status
No patched version of noise_search has shipped for CVE-2020-36461 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-36461 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2020-36461. 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-2020-36461 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-36461 across crates.io dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.