CVE-2020-6836
Command Injection in hot-formula-parser
grammar-parser.jison in the hot-formula-parser package before 3.0.1 for Node.js is vulnerable to arbitrary code injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates them in an eval call. If a value of the formula is taken from user-controlled input, it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands on the server.
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
grammar-parser.jison in the hot-formula-parser package before 3.0.1 for Node.js is vulnerable to arbitrary code injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates them in an eval call. If a value of the formula is taken from user-controlled input, it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands on the server.
- Record
CVE-2020-6836- 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 - Weakness
- CWE-94
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
grammar-parser.jison in the hot-formula-parser package before 3.0.1 for Node.js is vulnerable to arbitrary code injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates them in an eval call. If a value of the formula is taken from user-controlled input, it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands on the server.
- Record
CVE-2020-6836- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-0442 No score
grammar-parser.jison in the hot-formula-parser package before 3.0.1 for Node.js is vulnerable to arbitrary code injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates them in an eval call. If a value of the formula is taken from user-controlled input, it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands on the server.
- Record
EUVD-2020-0442- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rc77-xxq6-4mff
9.8
Command Injection in hot-formula-parser
Versions of hot-formula-parser prior to 3.0.1 are vulnerable to Command Injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates it in an eval call. If a value of the formula is supplied by user-controlled input it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands in the server.
Parsing the following formula creates a test file in the present directory:
"SUM([(function(){require('child_process').execSync('touch test')})(),2])"
Recommendation
Upgrade to version 3.0.1 or later.
- Record
GHSA-rc77-xxq6-4mff- 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-94
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
grammar-parser.jison in the hot-formula-parser package before 3.0.1 for Node.js is vulnerable to arbitrary code injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates them in an eval call. If a value of the formula is taken from user-controlled input, it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands on the server.
- Record
CVE-2020-6836- 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-rc77-xxq6-4mff
9.8
Command Injection in hot-formula-parser
Versions of hot-formula-parser prior to 3.0.1 are vulnerable to Command Injection. The package fails to sanitize values passed to the parse function and concatenates it in an eval call. If a value of the formula is supplied by user-controlled input it may allow attackers to run arbitrary commands in the server.
Parsing the following formula creates a test file in the present directory:
"SUM([(function(){require('child_process').execSync('touch test')})(),2])"
Recommendation
Upgrade to version 3.0.1 or later.
- Record
GHSA-rc77-xxq6-4mff- 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-94
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
hot-formula-parsernpm |
before 3.0.1 | 3.0.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 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-2020-6836 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Hot-formula-parser Project Hot-formula-parser, published January 11, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.15%, the 82nd percentile. Fixed in hot-formula-parser 3.0.1.
References
npmjs.com/advisories/1439
github.com/handsontable/formula-parser/commit/396b089738d4bf30eb570a4fe6a188affa95cd5e
blog.truesec.com/2020/01/17/reverse-shell-through-a-node-js-math-parser
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-6836
github.com/handsontable/formula-parser/pull/58
github.com/advisories/GHSA-rc77-xxq6-4mff
github.com/handsontable/formula-parser