CVE-2020-26287 | Stored XSS in mermaid diagrams

Exp

HedgeDoc is a collaborative platform for writing and sharing markdown. In HedgeDoc before version 1.7.1 an attacker can inject arbitrary `script` tags in HedgeDoc notes using mermaid diagrams. Our content security policy prevents loading scripts from most locations, but `www.google-analytics.com` is allowed. Using Google Tag Manger it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript and execute it on page load. Depending on the configuration of the instance, the attacker may not need authentication to create or edit notes. The problem is patched in HedgeDoc 1.7.1. As a workaround one can disallow `www.google-analytics.com` in the `Content-Security-Policy` header. Note that other ways to leverage the `script` tag injection might exist.

Published: 2020-12-28 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-26287 is rated High Exploit Risk (75.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.45%). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: 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-2020-26287

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-26287

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 0.55% 1.45% +0.90%
2 2025-03-30 0.85% 0.55% -0.31%
3 2025-03-29 0.85%

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-26287

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.7 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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.
2.3 5.8 [email protected]
8.7 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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.
2.3 5.8 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N 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:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-26287

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-26287

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
hedgedoc hedgedoc < 1.7.1 cpe:2.3:a:hedgedoc:hedgedoc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-26287

cvelogic Threat Intelligence