CVE-2020-8141 — dot
HIGHCVE-2020-8141 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Code Injection vulnerability in dot. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for dot — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Control of Generation of Code in doT
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
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.
dotnpmDescription
The dot package v1.1.2 uses Function() to compile templates. This can be exploited by the attacker if they can control the given template or if they can control the value set on Object.prototype.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | dot | all versions | 1.1.3npm install dot@1.1.3 |
Affected Products
dotdot_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 dot, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update dot to 1.1.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8141 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-2020-8141 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.