CVE-2020-7609 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in node-rules. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for node-rules — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Code Injection in node-rules
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-7609 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,987 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.
node-rulesnpmDescription
node-rules including 3.0.0 and prior to 5.0.0 allows injection of arbitrary commands. The argument rules of function "fromJSON()" can be controlled by users without any sanitization.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | node-rules | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 5.0.0 | 5.0.0npm install node-rules@5.0.0 |
Affected Products
node-rulesnode-rules_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 node-rules, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update node-rules to 5.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-7609 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-7609 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.