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TI-2026-59485 Aliases CVE-2026-87123

hbs vulnerable to Denial of Service via unhandled exception in async helper output escaping

Priority LOW 27CWE-248Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-248.

Summary

hbs is an Express view engine wrapper for Handlebars. Version 4.3.0 can crash the Node.js process during output escaping when an async helper, registered with registerAsyncHelper, resolves to an object whose toHTML property is truthy but not callable. Handlebars escapeExpression calls the toHTML method on any value that has a truthy toHTML, so such a value throws a TypeError, and because the async substitution runs on a later tick outside the render function's try/catch, the throw is an uncaught exception that terminates the process without sending a response. Only version 4.3.0 is affected, since the throwing escape was introduced by the fix for CVE-2026-16231 and earlier versions do not escape async helper values. It can be triggered remotely when an async helper resolves to an externally influenced object such as parsed JSON. The issue is fixed in hbs 4.3.1, and users should upgrade to hbs 4.3.1 or later.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00412 35th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed hbs (hbs): 4.3.1

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
hbshbs4.3.0 to before 4.3.14.3.1Patch availableCNA
  • hbs Vendorhbs Affected 4.3.0 to before 4.3.1 Fixed in 4.3.1 Patch available CNA

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA hbs (hbs) Fixed in 4.3.1

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-87123

References

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences