CVE-2020-28278
shvl vulnerable to prototype pollution
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
9.8
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
- Record
CVE-2020-28278- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.5 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
- Record
CVE-2020-28278- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-4811 No score
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
- Record
EUVD-2022-4811- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-pqwc-3vhw-qcvq
9.8
shvl vulnerable to prototype pollution
Overview
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
Details
The NPM module 'shvl' can be abused by Prototype Pollution vulnerability since the function 'set()' did not check for the type of object before assigning value to the property. Due to this flaw an attacker could create a non-existent property or able to manipulate the property which leads to Denial of Service or potentially Remote code execution.
PoC Details
The 'set()' function accepts four arguments object, path, val, obj. Due to the absence of validation, at values passed into path, val arguments, an attacker can supply a malicious value by adjusting the path value to include the __proto__ property. Since there is no validation before assigning property to check whether the assigned path is the Object's own property or not, the property isAdmin will be directly be assigned to the empty obj({}) thereby polluting the Object prototype. Later in the code, if there is a check to validate isAdmin the valued would be substituted as "true" as it had been polluted.
const shvl = require('shvl');
var obj = {}
console.log("Before : " + obj.isAdmin);
shvl.set(obj, '__proto__.isAdmin', true);
console.log("After : " + obj.isAdmin);
Affected Environments
1.0.0-2.0.1
Remediation
There are a couple of ways to mitigate prototype pollution vulnerabilities, for example: Most of the cases can be solved by freezing an object which doesn’t allow to add, remove, or change its properties. Validating the JSON input with schema validation, this guarantees that the JSON input contains only predefined attributes. We can change the objects, so they won’t have any prototype association by using “Object.create”.
- Record
GHSA-pqwc-3vhw-qcvq- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1321
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
- Record
CVE-2020-28278- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-pqwc-3vhw-qcvq
9.8
shvl vulnerable to prototype pollution
Overview
Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'shvl' versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.1 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.
Details
The NPM module 'shvl' can be abused by Prototype Pollution vulnerability since the function 'set()' did not check for the type of object before assigning value to the property. Due to this flaw an attacker could create a non-existent property or able to manipulate the property which leads to Denial of Service or potentially Remote code execution.
PoC Details
The 'set()' function accepts four arguments object, path, val, obj. Due to the absence of validation, at values passed into path, val arguments, an attacker can supply a malicious value by adjusting the path value to include the __proto__ property. Since there is no validation before assigning property to check whether the assigned path is the Object's own property or not, the property isAdmin will be directly be assigned to the empty obj({}) thereby polluting the Object prototype. Later in the code, if there is a check to validate isAdmin the valued would be substituted as "true" as it had been polluted.
const shvl = require('shvl');
var obj = {}
console.log("Before : " + obj.isAdmin);
shvl.set(obj, '__proto__.isAdmin', true);
console.log("After : " + obj.isAdmin);
Affected Environments
1.0.0-2.0.1
Remediation
There are a couple of ways to mitigate prototype pollution vulnerabilities, for example: Most of the cases can be solved by freezing an object which doesn’t allow to add, remove, or change its properties. Validating the JSON input with schema validation, this guarantees that the JSON input contains only predefined attributes. We can change the objects, so they won’t have any prototype association by using “Object.create”.
- Record
GHSA-pqwc-3vhw-qcvq- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1321
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-28278 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Shvl Project Shvl, published December 29, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 3.07%, the 87th percentile. Fixed in shvl 2.0.2.
References
github.com/robinvdvleuten/shvl/blob/bef0a3ebade444cc6b297147ecf5242308f0892e/index.js
whitesourcesoftware.com/vulnerability-database/CVE-2020-28278
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28278
github.com/robinvdvleuten/shvl/issues/34
github.com/robinvdvleuten/shvl/pull/36
github.com/robinvdvleuten/shvl/commit/513c0848774dfb114ad0d0554abf7927cfdd569e
web.archive.org/web/20210320222933/https://www.whitesourcesoftware.com/vulnerability-database/CVE-2020-28278
github.com/advisories/GHSA-pqwc-3vhw-qcvq