Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
semantic-release could accidentally reveal release secrets in logs when a secret contained characters that change during URL encoding. A leaked token could allow unauthorized publishing or repository actions, depending on that token’s permissions. The issue is reported fixed in semantic-release 17.2.3.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for teams that publish packages or automate releases with shared CI logs. The business risk is credential exposure leading to unauthorized code, package, or repository changes.
Technical view
CVE-2020-26226 is a CWE-116 output-encoding flaw in semantic-release. Secret masking handled raw secret values but could miss URL-encoded forms, allowing disclosure during release activity. The supplied data gives CVSS 3.1 score 8.1 with high confidentiality and integrity impact, user interaction required, and no availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in CI/CD pipelines using semantic-release with publishing, repository, or registry tokens, especially where release logs or artifacts are retained or broadly readable. The source bundle has inconsistent affected-version metadata, so validate installed versions against the GitHub advisory.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Practical risk depends on whether vulnerable semantic-release output containing URL-encoded secrets was generated and whether attackers can read historical CI logs or artifacts.
Researcher notes
The key condition is secret material transformed by URL encoding before output. Avoid assuming all deployments are exposed; validate semantic-release version, release configuration, token character composition, and CI log accessibility. Source metadata conflicts on affected range, while the description names the fix as 17.2.3.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade semantic-release to version 17.2.3 or later.
- Rotate tokens that may have appeared in release logs.
- Review CI logs and artifacts for accidental secret exposure.
- Remove or restrict access to exposed historical logs.
- Check the GitHub advisory for exact affected-version guidance.
Validation and detection
- Inventory projects that use semantic-release in release automation.
- Check package-lock, yarn.lock, or pnpm lockfiles for semantic-release versions.
- Review CI release logs for encoded secret exposure.
- Confirm release tokens are scoped to minimum required permissions.
- Verify secret rotation after any suspected disclosure.
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-116: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-26226 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N2.85.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/security/advisories/GHSA-r2j6-p67h-q639CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/commit/ca90b34c4a9333438cc4d69faeb43362bb991e5aCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.
Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.