Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Highcharts JS before 6.1.0 had a regular-expression flaw in its SVG rendering code that could let crafted input consume excessive processing time and cause denial of service. The known impact is availability, not data theft or code execution.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted availability risk. It is not documented here as remote code execution or data compromise, but vulnerable charting paths in public applications could affect service reliability. Remediate during normal vulnerability maintenance unless the component is exposed to untrusted input.
Technical view
CVE-2018-20801 is a ReDoS issue in js/parts/SvgRenderer.js in Highcharts JS before 6.1.0. Backtracking regular expressions in SVGRenderer could be abused to trigger excessive regex evaluation, causing denial of service. The source bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, or detailed affected CPEs.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where applications bundle Highcharts JS versions before 6.1.0 and process attacker-influenced chart or SVG-rendering inputs. The bundle does not identify exact products beyond Highcharts and a NetApp advisory reference.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. Public references identify the vulnerable library version range and an upstream commit, but no exploit status or attack prevalence is provided.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE description, Snyk reference, upstream Highcharts commit, and NetApp advisory. No CVSS, CWE, exploit maturity, or complete CPE list is provided. Avoid assuming all Highcharts deployments are exploitable without confirming input reachability.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory applications using Highcharts JS and identify versions below 6.1.0.
- Upgrade Highcharts JS to 6.1.0 or later where applicable.
- Review vendor guidance for packaged products that bundle Highcharts.
- Prioritize externally reachable or user-input-driven chart rendering paths.
Validation and detection
- Check dependency manifests and bundled assets for Highcharts versions before 6.1.0.
- Confirm deployed builds use the upgraded Highcharts package or patched source.
- Map chart-rendering inputs that can be influenced by untrusted users.
- Review vendor advisories for affected downstream products in your environment.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2018-20801 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://snyk.io/vuln/npm:highcharts:20180225CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts/commit/7c547e1e0f5e4379f94396efd559a566668c0dfaCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190715-0001/CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.