CVE-2020-26284 | Hugo can execute a binary from the current directory on Windows

Exp

Hugo is a fast and Flexible Static Site Generator built in Go. Hugo depends on Go's `os/exec` for certain features, e.g. for rendering of Pandoc documents if these binaries are found in the system `%PATH%` on Windows. In Hugo before version 0.79.1, if a malicious file with the same name (`exe` or `bat`) is found in the current working directory at the time of running `hugo`, the malicious command will be invoked instead of the system one. Windows users who run `hugo` inside untrusted Hugo sites are affected. Users should upgrade to Hugo v0.79.1. Other than avoiding untrusted Hugo sites, there is no workaround.

Published: 2020-12-21 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-26284 is rated High Exploit Risk (71.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.45%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +1.04% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-26284

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-26284

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.41% 1.45% +1.04%
2 2025-03-30 0.50% 0.41% -0.09%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.50% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-26284

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.7 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.3 5.8 [email protected]
8.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 6.0 [email protected]
8.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 6.8 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-26284

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-26284

GHSA-8j34-9876-pvfq · Severity: high · Ecosystem: go — Hugo can execute a binary from the current directory on Windows

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-26284

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2020-26284 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (hugo), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-26284
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-26284 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (hugo), 11 status rows across 11 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 7, ignored 2, DNE 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-26284

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-26284

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gohugo hugo < 0.79.1 cpe:2.3:a:gohugo:hugo:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*

References for CVE-2020-26284

cvelogic Threat Intelligence