GHSA-f9mq-jph6-9mhm CVE-2020-4075

Arbitrary file read via window-open IPC in Electron

Medium npm

Severity: 6.8 / 10; Medium · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS): 1.18%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 67.58% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: No; Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness: CWE-552 Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties
Fix: 7.2.4; Upgrade electron to this version or later

Description

Impact

The vulnerability allows arbitrary local file read by defining unsafe window options on a child window opened via window.open.

Workarounds

Ensure you are calling event.preventDefault() on all new-window events where the url or options is not something you expect.

Fixed Versions

9.0.0-beta.21
8.2.4
7.2.4

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Email us at security@electronjs.org

Affected versions

npm

Package	Vulnerable	Fixed in
electron	`< 7.2.4`	`7.2.4`
electron	`>= 8.0.0, < 8.2.4`	`8.2.4`

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

electron npm → `7.2.4`

npm

npm install electron@7.2.4

yarn

yarn add electron@7.2.4

pnpm

pnpm add electron@7.2.4

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 6.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: High
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Weakness

CWE-552: Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties

The product makes files or directories accessible to unauthorized actors, even though they should not be.

How to prevent it

Implementation, System Configuration, Operation: When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to disable public access.

References

Advisories

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-4075

Timeline

Jul 7, 2020 Published
Jul 8, 2026 Last updated by the source
Oct 31, 2026 Latest EPSS score

Advisory	Severity	Why it's related
GHSA-qqvq-6xgj-jw8g Electron affected by libvpx's heap buffer overflow in vp8 encoding	High Known exploited	Also affects electron
GHSA-j7hp-h8jx-5ppr libwebp: OOB write in BuildHuffmanTable	High Known exploited	Also affects electron
GHSA-995f-9x5r-2rcj Heap buffer overflow in GPU	Critical Known exploited	Also affects electron
GHSA-jr5w-w6x2-84p9 Electron: Mitigation for compromised eMudhra intermediate certificates	High	Also affects electron
GHSA-h3v5-h239-pg29 Electron: Off-screen rendering on macOS trusts GPU-supplied frame geometry	Low	Also affects electron
GHSA-3qxv-5xgr-q7w9 Electron: Frame subscription trusts GPU-supplied frame geometry	Low	Also affects electron
GHSA-997q-gvvc-jwmx Electron: openExternal permission requests can be attributed to the wrong origin	Medium	Also affects electron
GHSA-fw47-9c62-h3vw Electron: HID and USB permission checks can be attributed to the wrong origin	Medium	Also affects electron

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