Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Lodash before 4.17.5 allowed attacker-controlled object data to change properties inherited by all JavaScript objects. In business terms, affected applications may behave unpredictably if they merge untrusted input using vulnerable lodash functions.
Executive priority
Treat this as a dependency hygiene and exposure-reduction item. Prioritize internet-facing or data-processing applications that accept JSON or user-controlled object input and use old lodash releases.
Technical view
CVE-2018-3721 is a CWE-471 MAID/prototype-pollution issue in lodash before 4.17.5. The cited CVE description names defaultsDeep, merge, and mergeWith as affected paths that can modify Object.prototype through __proto__.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely where applications or bundled products use lodash versions before 4.17.5, directly or transitively, and pass untrusted object data into the affected merge-style functions.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. The HackerOne report and lodash commit support vulnerability existence and remediation, but operational exploit prevalence is not established here.
Researcher notes
The evidence identifies affected versions and functions, but does not provide CVSS, confirmed exploitation, or product-specific impact beyond listed references. Impact depends heavily on application data flow.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade lodash to 4.17.5 or later where present.
- Refresh lockfiles and rebuild deployed artifacts after dependency updates.
- Check vendor advisories for bundled products that include lodash.
- Avoid merging untrusted object structures without validation.
Validation and detection
- Inventory package manifests and lockfiles for lodash versions before 4.17.5.
- Check transitive dependencies that bundle or pin vulnerable lodash releases.
- Review code paths using defaultsDeep, merge, or mergeWith on untrusted input.
- Confirm production artifacts no longer include vulnerable lodash versions.
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.
CWE-471: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-3721 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://hackerone.com/reports/310443CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/lodash/lodash/commit/d8e069cc3410082e44eb18fcf8e7f3d08ebe1d4aCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190919-0004/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.