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Fencer Vulns
critical 9.8

CVE-2026-33993 json

Locutus has Prototype Pollution via __proto__ Key Injection in unserialize()

published 2026-03-27 7 mo ago modified 2026-10-26 13 d ago also GHSA-4mph-v827-f877 , EUVD-2026-16888

cvss
9.8
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.6%
EPSS 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 48%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Locutus brings stdlibs of other programming languages to JavaScript for educational purposes. Prior to version 3.0.25, the `unserialize()` function in `locutus/php/var/unserialize` assigns deserialized keys to plain objects via bracket notation without filtering the `__proto__` key. When a PHP serialized payload contains `__proto__` as an array or object key, JavaScript's `__proto__` setter is invoked, replacing the deserialized object's prototype with attacker-controlled content. This enables property injection, for...in propagation of injected properties, and denial of service via built-in method override. This is distinct from the previously reported prototype pollution in `parse_str` (GHSA-f98m-q3hr-p5wq, GHSA-rxrv-835q-v5mh) — `unserialize` is a different function with no mitigation applied. Version 3.0.25 patches the issue.

Patch / fix

  • npm locutus 3.0.25
  • locutus locutus 3.0.25

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-33993 updated cvss 5.3

Locutus: Locutus: Prototype Pollution and Denial of Service vulnerability in unserialize() function

  • Red Hat Logging Subsystem for Red Hat OpenShift openshift-logging/kibana6-rhel8, openshift-logging/elasticsearch6-rhel9, openshift-logging/logging-curator5-rhel9, openshift-logging/elasticsearch-proxy-rhel9, openshift-logging/elasticsearch-rhel9-operator, openshift-logging/elasticsearch-operator-bundle
    affected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
7 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.59% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 48% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/locutusjs/locutus/security/advisories/GHSA-4mph-v827-f877 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 4.0 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA 4.0 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
NVD 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm locutus
<3.0.25
3.0.25

Affected products

  • locutusjs locutus

Classification

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

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns 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.