How severe is CVE-2020-8186?

CVE-2020-8186 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-8186?

CVE-2020-8186 affects the following packages: devcert (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix CVE-2020-8186?

Update devcert to 1.1.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8186 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-8186 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for devcert, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-8186 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2020-8186 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2020-8186, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-8186?

CVE-2020-8186 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.8%, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2020-8186 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-8186 was published on May 18, 2021 and was last updated on November 8, 2023. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2020-8186 — devcert

CRITICAL

CVE-2020-8186 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability in devcert. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for devcert — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Injection and Command Injection in devcert

Published

May 18, 2021

Updated

Nov 8, 2023

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 12, 2026 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs86th percentile — riskier than 86% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2020-8186 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

1 pkg affected

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.

72other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

devcertnpm

353Kdownloads / week

Description

A command injection vulnerability in the devcert module may lead to remote code execution when users of the module pass untrusted input to the certificateFor function.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`devcert`	all versions	1.1.2`npm install devcert@1.1.2`

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

A command injection vulnerability in the `devcert` module may lead to re…

hackerone.comNVDJul 2020

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for devcert, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update devcert to 1.1.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8186 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

A command injection vulnerability in the `devcert` module may lead to remote code execution when users of the module pass untrusted input to the `certificateFor` function.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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