Detections
Analytics

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS : Highlight.js vulnerability (USN-8276-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 315737

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-8276-1 advisory.

 It was discovered that Highlight.js used plain JavaScript objects for internal language name lookups, making them susceptible to prototype pollution attacks. An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service or unexpected application behaviour.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8276-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 315737

File Name: ubuntu_USN-8276-1.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Published: 5/20/2026

Updated: 5/20/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.3

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.9

Temporal Score: 3.6

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2020-26237

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.7

Temporal Score: 7.6

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libjs-highlight, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libjs-highlight.js, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:node-highlight, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:node-highlight.js

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Debian/dpkg-l, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 5/19/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 11/24/2020

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2020-26237

USN: 8276-1