CVE-2026-33940 PUBLISHED

Handlebars.js has JavaScript Injection via AST Type Confusion when passing an object as dynamic partial

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 24.03.2026 Published: 27.03.2026 Updated: 27.03.2026

Handlebars provides the power necessary to let users build semantic templates. In versions 4.0.0 through 4.7.8, a crafted object placed in the template context can bypass all conditional guards in resolvePartial() and cause invokePartial() to return undefined. The Handlebars runtime then treats the unresolved partial as a source that needs to be compiled, passing the crafted object to env.compile(). Because the object is a valid Handlebars AST containing injected code, the generated JavaScript executes arbitrary commands on the server. The attack requires the adversary to control a value that can be returned by a dynamic partial lookup. Version 4.7.9 fixes the issue. Some workarounds are available. First, use the runtime-only build (require('handlebars/runtime')). Without compile(), the fallback compilation path in invokePartial is unreachable. Second, sanitize context data before rendering: Ensure no value in the context is a non-primitive object that could be passed to a dynamic partial. Third, avoid dynamic partial lookups ({{> (lookup ...)}}) when context data is user-controlled.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 8.1

Product Status

Vendor handlebars-lang
Product handlebars.js
Versions
  • Version >= 4.0.0, < 4.7.9 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') CWE
  • CWE-843: Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion') CWE