How severe is GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg?

No CVSS score has been assigned to GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg?

GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg affects the following packages: gnuplot (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg?

No patched version of gnuplot has shipped for GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.

How do I detect GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg in my npm dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg 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 GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg was published on September 4, 2020 and was last updated on August 31, 2020. 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

Command Injection in gnuplotGHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg

GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg is a remote code execution vulnerability in gnuplot. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.

Published

Sep 4, 2020

Updated

Aug 31, 2020

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

None yet

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Aug 31, 2020 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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.

5other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

gnuplotnpm

187downloads / week

Description

All versions of gnuplot are vulnerable to Command Injection. The package fails to sanitize plot titles, which may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code in the system if the title value is supplied by a user. The following proof-of-concept creates a testing file in the current directory:

var gnuplot = require('gnuplot');

const title = '"\nset title system("touch testing")\n#';

gnuplot()
.set('term png')
.set('output "out.png"')
.set(`title "${title}"`)
.set('xrange [-10:10]')
.set('yrange [-2:2]')
.set('zeroaxis')
.plot('(x/4)**2, sin(x), 1/x')
.end();

Recommendation

No fix is currently available. Consider using an alternative package until a fix is made available.

Affected Packages

1 total

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`gnuplot`	≥ 0.0.0	No fix

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for gnuplot, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of gnuplot has shipped for GHSA-cfwc-xjfp-44jg 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
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

All versions of `gnuplot` are vulnerable to Command Injection. The package fails to sanitize plot titles, which may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code in the system if the title value is supplied by a user. The following proof-of-concept creates a `testing` file in the current directory: ``` var gnuplot = require('gnuplot'); const title = '"\nset title system("touch testing")\n#'; gnuplot() .set('term png') .set('output "out.png"') .set(`title "${title}"`) .set('xrange [-10:10]') .set('yrange [-2:2]') .set('zeroaxis') .plot('(x/4)**2, sin(x), 1/x') .end(); ``` ## Recommendation No

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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