CVE-2020-36604
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 · uneditedhoek before 8.5.1 and 9.x before 9.0.3 allows prototype poisoning in the clone function.
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 confidenceThe hoek Node.js utility library before version 8.5.1 and 9.x before 9.0.3 contains a prototype pollution vulnerability in its clone function. An attacker can inject malicious properties into JavaScript objects by manipulating the prototype chain during cloning operations, potentially leading to denial of service or remote code execution.
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< 8.5.1>= 9.0, < 9.0.3CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 if hoek is installedRun 'npm list hoek' or 'yarn list hoek' to check if the package exists in your node_modules, or inspect your package.json for hoek in the dependencies or devDependencies sections.Affected if hoek is listed as a direct or transitive dependency
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Determine the installed hoek versionRun 'npm list hoek --depth=0' to see the direct version, or check the version field in node_modules/hoek/package.json. For transitive dependencies, use 'npm ls hoek' to see the full tree.Affected if The version shown is less than 8.5.1, or is 9.0.0, 9.0.1, or 9.0.2
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Verify the application uses the clone functionSearch your codebase for calls to hoek.clone() or require('hoek').clone, as the vulnerability exists specifically in the clone function used for object cloning operations.Affected if Your code invokes the clone function from the hoek library
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Review the full dependency treeRun 'npm audit' or inspect the full dependency tree with 'npm ls hoek' to identify whether hoek is pulled in as a transitive dependency by other packages.Affected if hoek is present at any depth in your dependency tree and the version is within the affected ranges
You are affected if hoek is installed with a version below 8.5.1 or between 9.0.0 and 9.0.2, and your application uses the clone function from this library.
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.
dbcve · scoped8.5.19.0.3
Update hoek to version 8.5.1 or later for the 8.x branch, or version 9.0.3 or later for the 9.x branch. Review the application's dependency tree to identify if hoek is a direct or transitive dependency and run tests after updating to ensure compatibility.
hoek 8.5.1 for 8.x users, or hoek 9.0.3 for 9.x users
- Identify current hoek version by checking package.json or running `npm list hoek`
- For hoek >= 9.0.0: Run `npm install [email protected]` to upgrade to the fixed 9.0.x release
- For hoek < 9.0.0: Run `npm install [email protected]` to upgrade to the fixed 8.x release
- Verify successful upgrade with `npm list hoek`
- Run tests to confirm the upgrade does not break functionality
- Commit the version change to your dependency files
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-36604 — 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-2020-36604 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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