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Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') in handlebars

CVE-2026-33937

  • handlebars
  • org.webjars.npm:handlebars
High
9.8/10

Summary

Handlebars provides the power necessary to let users build semantic templates. In versions 4.0.0 through 4.7.8, `Handlebars.compile()` accepts a pre-parsed AST object in addition to a template string. The `value` field of a `NumberLiteral` AST node is emitted directly into the generated JavaScript without quoting or sanitization. An attacker who can supply a crafted AST to `compile()` can therefore inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript, leading to Remote Code Execution on the server. Version 4.7.9 fixes the issue. Some workarounds are available. Validate input type before calling `Handlebars.compile()`; ensure the argument is always a `string`, never a plain object or JSON-deserialized value. Use the Handlebars runtime-only build (`handlebars/runtime`) on the server if templates are pre-compiled at build time; `compile()` will be unavailable.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • HIGH
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • HIGH
  • HIGH

CWE-94 - Code Injection

Code injection is a type of vulnerability that allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability fully compromises the machine and can cause a wide variety of security issues, such as unauthorized access to sensitive information, manipulation of data, denial of service attacks etc. Code injection is different from command injection in the fact that it is limited by the functionality of the injected language (e.g. PHP), as opposed to command injection, which leverages existing code to execute commands, usually within the context of a shell.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published