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Fencer Intel
medium 4.8

GHSA-7rx3-28cr-v5wh json

Handlebars.js has a Prototype Method Access Control Gap via Missing __lookupSetter__ Blocklist Entry

published 7mo ago modified 2mo ago

cvss
4.8
version 3.1, GitHub
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
—
no score, EPSS covers CVEs only
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

## Summary

The prototype method blocklist in `lib/handlebars/internal/proto-access.js` blocks `constructor`, `__defineGetter__`, `__defineSetter__`, and `__lookupGetter__`, but omits the symmetric `__lookupSetter__`. This omission is only exploitable when the non-default runtime option `allowProtoMethodsByDefault: true` is explicitly set — in that configuration `__lookupSetter__` becomes accessible while its counterparts remain blocked, creating an inconsistent security boundary.

`4.6.0` is the version that introduced `protoAccessControl` and the `allowProtoMethodsByDefault` runtime option.

## Description

In `lib/handlebars/internal/proto-access.js`:

```javascript const methodWhiteList = Object.create(null); methodWhiteList['constructor'] = false; methodWhiteList['__defineGetter__'] = false; methodWhiteList['__defineSetter__'] = false; methodWhiteList['__lookupGetter__'] = false; // __lookupSetter__ intentionally blocked in CVE-2021-23383, // but omitted here — creating an asymmetric blocklist ```

All four legacy accessor helpers (`__defineGetter__`, `__defineSetter__`, `__lookupGetter__`, `__lookupSetter__`) were involved in the exploit chain addressed by CVE-2021-23383. Three of the four were explicitly blocked; `__lookupSetter__` was left out.

When `allowProtoMethodsByDefault: true` is set, any prototype method **not present** in `methodWhiteList` is permitted by default. Because `__lookupSetter__` is absent from the list, it passes the `checkWhiteList` check and is accessible in templates, while `__lookupGetter__` (its sibling) is correctly denied.

## Workarounds

- Do **not** set `allowProtoMethodsByDefault: true`. The default configuration is not affected. - If `allowProtoMethodsByDefault` must be enabled, ensure templates do not reference `__lookupSetter__` through untrusted input.

Patch / fix

  • npm handlebars 4.7.9

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CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
GitHub 3.1 4.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm handlebars
>=4.6.0, <4.7.9
4.7.9

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-1321 Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

The maintainers of handlebars-lang/handlebars.js published their own advisory on GitHub. Reviewed sources take precedence over it.