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ElectronApplication · Electronjs

CVE-2020-15096

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.1 / 7.2.4 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Electron before versions 6.1.1, 7.2.4, 8.2.4, and 9.0.0-beta21, there is a context isolation bypass, meaning that code running in the main world context in the renderer can reach into the isolated Electron context and perform privileged actions. Apps using "contextIsolation" are affected. There are no app-side workarounds, you must update your Electron version to be protected. This is fixed in versions 6.1.1, 7.2.4, 8.2.4, and 9.0.0-beta21.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A context isolation bypass vulnerability exists in Electron where code running in the main world context of the renderer can reach into the isolated Electron context and perform privileged actions. This affects applications that use the 'contextIsolation' security feature, which is intended to prevent such cross-context access.

MitigationUpdate Electron to version 6.1.1, 7.2.4, 8.2.4, or 9.0.0-beta21 or later. No app-side workarounds are available; the fix must come from the Electron framework update.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ElectronApplication
Affected:< 6.1.1>= 7.0.0, < 7.2.4>= 8.0.0, < 8.2.4= 9.0.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed Electron version
    Check the version field in your application's package.json file, or run 'npm list electron' or 'yarn list electron' in the project directory to retrieve the Electron version number.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: before 6.1.1, 7.0.0 to before 7.2.4, 8.0.0 to before 8.2.4, or exactly 9.0.0.
  2. Locate the main process file
    Find the main JavaScript file where BrowserWindow is instantiated, commonly named main.js, main.js, or index.js in the project root or a src folder.
    Affected if Continue to next step to determine if contextIsolation is enabled.
  3. Check if contextIsolation is enabled
    Open the main process file and search for 'new BrowserWindow' calls. Inspect the webPreferences object and look for the 'contextIsolation' option set to true.
    Affected if The application is potentially affected only if contextIsolation is set to true in webPreferences.
  4. Verify preload script usage
    In the same BrowserWindow webPreferences, check if a 'preload' script path is specified using the 'preload' option.
    Affected if If contextIsolation is true AND a preload script is defined, the vulnerability can be triggered.
  5. Confirm the combination of factors
    Cross-reference: the installed Electron version must be in the affected ranges AND contextIsolation must be enabled for this CVE to apply to your environment.
    Affected if You are affected if BOTH conditions are true: (1) Electron version is vulnerable AND (2) contextIsolation is enabled in your BrowserWindow configuration.

Your environment is affected only if you use Electron with contextIsolation enabled AND your installed version falls within the vulnerable ranges: < 6.1.1, 7.0.0-7.2.3, 8.0.0-8.2.3, or exactly 9.0.0.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.1.1 / 7.2.4 / 8.2.4 or later
Fixed in 6.1.17.2.48.2.4
Interim mitigation

Update Electron to version 6.1.1, 7.2.4, 8.2.4, or 9.0.0-beta21 or later. No app-side workarounds are available; the fix must come from the Electron framework update.

Fix this in Electron Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-15096 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data