CVE-2020-36471 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) vulnerability in generator. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for generator — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Data races in generator
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-36471 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
generatorReal-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
The Generator type is an iterable which uses a generator function that yields
values. In affected versions of the crate, the provided function yielding values
had no Send bounds despite the Generator itself implementing Send.
The generator function lacking a Send bound means that types that are
dangerous to send across threads such as Rc could be sent as part of a
generator, potentially leading to data races.
This flaw was fixed in commit f7d120a3b
by enforcing that the generator function be bound by Send.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | generator | all versions | 0.7.0cargo update -p generator --precise 0.7.0 |
Affected Products
generatorgenerator_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 generator, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update generator to 0.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-36471 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-2020-36471 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.