CVE-2020-15215
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 · uneditedElectron before versions 11.0.0-beta.6, 10.1.2, 9.3.1 or 8.5.2 is vulnerable to a context isolation bypass. Apps using both `contextIsolation` and `sandbox: true` are affected. Apps using both `contextIsolation` and `nodeIntegrationInSubFrames: true` are affected. This 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.
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 confidenceElectron versions before 11.0.0-beta.6, 10.1.2, 9.3.1, and 8.5.2 contain a context isolation bypass vulnerability. When applications use contextIsolation:true combined with either sandbox:true or nodeIntegrationInSubFrames:true, malicious or compromised code in the renderer's main world context can escape the isolation boundary and access privileged Electron APIs in the isolated context.
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= 8.0.0= 8.0.1= 8.0.2= 8.0.3= 8.1.0= 8.1.1= 8.2.0= 8.2.1= 8.2.2= 8.2.3= 8.2.4= 8.2.5CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Electron versionInspect the Electron package version in your project's package.json or node_modules/electron/package.json fileAffected if The version is 8.0.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.2, 8.0.3, 8.1.0, 8.1.1, 8.2.0, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, or 8.2.5
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Locate BrowserWindow configurationsSearch your main process code for new BrowserWindow() calls and webPreferences objectsAffected if BrowserWindow instances with webPreferences are present in your codebase
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Verify contextIsolation settingExamine the webPreferences object in each BrowserWindow constructor and check if contextIsolation is set to trueAffected if contextIsolation is explicitly set to true in any webPreferences
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Verify sandbox or nodeIntegrationInSubFrames settingExamine the same webPreferences object and check if sandbox:true or nodeIntegrationInSubFrames:true is presentAffected if Either sandbox is set to true OR nodeIntegrationInSubFrames is set to true alongside contextIsolation:true in the same webPreferences
You are affected if your Electron version is 8.0.0-8.2.5 AND you have contextIsolation:true combined with either sandbox:true or nodeIntegrationInSubFrames:true in the same BrowserWindow webPreferences.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade Electron to a patched version (11.0.0-beta.6+, 10.1.2+, 9.3.1+, or 8.5.2+) and verify that context isolation is functioning correctly after the upgrade.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15215 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-15215 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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