CVE-2020-7941: Plone Plone Unauthenticated Write Vulnerability Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-w6g9-xccc-347h
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-269
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-7941 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) plone unauthenticated write vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management) affecting Plone libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves plone unauthenticated write vulnerability. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2020-7941 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-7941
GHSA Identifier GHSA-w6g9-xccc-347h
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Affected Product Plone
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2020-7941

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Plone dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Plone fixed: Latest secure release 
pip install Plone>=Latest secure release
plone.app.contenttypes fixed: Latest secure release 
pip install plone.app.contenttypes>=Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show Plone

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2020-7941, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show Plone

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Plone in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show Plone command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management, where the product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. In Plone, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

A privilege escalation issue in plone.app.contenttypes in Plone 4.3 through 5.2.1 allows users to PUT (overwrite) some content without needing write permission.

CVE-2020-7941 Affected Plone Versions

2 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
Plone
pypi/Plone
PyPI
≥ 4.3
≤ 5.2.1
plone.app.contenttypes
pypi/plone.app.contenttypes
PyPI

References

NVD — CVE-2020-7941 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7941
Plone Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/plone/plone.app.contenttypes
Plone Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/plone/plone.app.contenttypes/blob/master/CHANGES.rst?plain=1#L372-L374
Plone Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/plone/PYSEC-2020-90.yaml
Plone Security Information SECURITY
https://plone.org/security/hotfix/20200121
Plone Security Information SECURITY
https://plone.org/security/hotfix/20200121/privilege-escalation-for-overwriting-content
Plone Security Information SECURITY
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/22/1
Plone Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/24/1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-7941?
CVE-2020-7941 is a security vulnerability in Plone involving Plone Unauthenticated Write Vulnerability under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management.
Which Plone versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: Plone, plone.app.contenttypes.
What version fixes CVE-2020-7941?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is Plone affected?
Yes, Plone is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
Is plone.app.contenttypes affected?
Yes, plone.app.contenttypes is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-7941?
CVE-2020-7941 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-7941?
CVE-2020-7941 is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management (The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-7941?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show Plone'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-w6g9-xccc-347h",
  "modified" : "2024-10-18T21:53:20Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T17:07:14Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-7941" ],
  "summary" : "Plone Unauthenticated Write Vulnerability",
  "details" : "A privilege escalation issue in plone.app.contenttypes in Plone 4.3 through 5.2.1 allows users to PUT (overwrite) some content without needing write permission.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "Plone"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.3"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "5.2.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "plone.app.contenttypes"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "< 2.1.6"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7941"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/plone/plone.app.contenttypes"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/plone/plone.app.contenttypes/blob/master/CHANGES.rst?plain=1#L372-L374"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/plone/PYSEC-2020-90.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://plone.org/security/hotfix/20200121"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://plone.org/security/hotfix/20200121/privilege-escalation-for-overwriting-content"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/22/1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/24/1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-07-12T23:37:04Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-01-23T21:15:00Z"
  }
}