CVE-2020-5267Network attack vector

Cross-site scripting via incomplete literal escaping

Published Mar 19, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Cross-site scripting in Rails Action View before 5.2.4.2 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.2.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute script. The j and escape_javascript helpers fail to escape backticks and dollar signs, allowing crafted input to break out through interpolation in backtick-delimited templates. Exploitation requires an application view to process attacker-controlled input with either helper inside a JavaScript template literal and a user to render the response.

CVSS severity4.8
Medium
EPSS probability1.52%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Cross-site scripting in Rails Action View before 5.2.4.2 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.2.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute script. The j and escape_javascript helpers fail to escape backticks and dollar signs, allowing crafted input to break out through interpolation in backtick-delimited templates. Exploitation requires an application view to process attacker-controlled input with either helper inside a JavaScript template literal and a user to render the response.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5267
Published
Mar 19, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Rails
Product
Action View
Classifications
CWE-79, CWE-80, T1189
Attack vector
network
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 19, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 5.2.4.2
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.2.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Rails · Action Viewversion=< 5.2.4.2; version=>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.2.2

Published CVSS scores

4.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CWE-80Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (Basic XSS)
T1189Drive-by Compromise

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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