CVE-2020-17527: Apache Tomcat Exposure Of Sensitive Information To Vulnerability

Q: What is CVE-2020-17527?

CVE-2020-17527 is a security vulnerability in Apache Tomcat involving Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in Apache Tomcat under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.

Q: Which Apache Tomcat versions are affected?

Affected versions include releases prior to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60 across affected packages: org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote.

Q: What version fixes CVE-2020-17527?

Upgrading to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.

Q: Is tomcat-coyote affected?

Yes, org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote is affected in releases prior to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60. Upgrade your dependency to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60 or later.

Q: What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-17527?

CVE-2020-17527 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

Q: What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-17527?

CVE-2020-17527 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).

Q: How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2020-17527?

Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.tomcat'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.

HIGH

Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vvw4-rfwf-p6hx

CVSS 7.5

CWE-200

Published 2022-02-09

Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-17527 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) exposure of sensitive information to vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting Apache Tomcat libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in apache tomcat. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60.

CVE-2020-17527 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-17527

GHSA Identifier GHSA-vvw4-rfwf-p6hx

Severity HIGH

CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5

CWE Classification CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Affected Product Apache Tomcat

Package Ecosystem Maven

Published Date 2022-02-09

Last Updated 2024-03-11

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

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:N/A:N).

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 None (I:N)

Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2020-17527

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

org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote fixed: 10.0.0-M10

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
    <artifactId>tomcat-coyote</artifactId>
    <version>10.0.0-M10</version>
</dependency>

org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote fixed: 9.0.40

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
    <artifactId>tomcat-coyote</artifactId>
    <version>9.0.40</version>
</dependency>

org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote fixed: 8.5.60

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
    <artifactId>tomcat-coyote</artifactId>
    <version>8.5.60</version>
</dependency>

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.tomcat

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2020-17527, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.tomcat

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Apache Tomcat in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 10.0.0-M10), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.tomcat command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. In Apache Tomcat, 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

While investigating bug 64830 it was discovered that Apache Tomcat 10.0.0-M1 to 10.0.0-M9, 9.0.0-M1 to 9.0.39 and 8.5.0 to 8.5.59 could re-use an HTTP request header value from the previous stream received on an HTTP/2 connection for the request associated with the subsequent stream. While this would most likely lead to an error and the closure of the HTTP/2 connection, it is possible that information could leak between requests.

CVE-2020-17527 Affected Apache Tomcat Versions

3 component(s)

Fixed Versions:

10.0.0-M109.0.408.5.60

Product / Package	Ecosystem	Affected Versions	Fixed Version
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote maven/org.apache.tomcat/tomcat-coyote	Maven	≥ 10.0.0-M1 < 10.0.0-M10	10.0.0-M10
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote maven/org.apache.tomcat/tomcat-coyote	Maven	≥ 9.0.0-M1 < 9.0.40	9.0.40
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote maven/org.apache.tomcat/tomcat-coyote	Maven	≥ 8.5.0 < 8.5.60	8.5.60

References

NVD — CVE-2020-17527 NVD

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17527

Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT

https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/21e3408671aac7e0d7e264e720cac8b1b189eb29

Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT

https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/8d2fe6894d6e258a6d615d7f786acca80e6020cb

Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT

https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/d56293f816d6dc9e2b47107f208fa9e95db58c65

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rce5ac9... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rce5ac9a40173651d540babce59f6f3825f12c6d4e886ba00823b11e5@%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rce5ac9... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rce5ac9a40173651d540babce59f6f3825f12c6d4e886ba00823b11e5@%3Cannounce.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd5babd... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd5babd13d7a350b369b2f647b4dd32ce678af42f9aba5389df1ae6ca@%3Cusers.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00022.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202012-23

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20201210-0003

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://tomcat.apache.org/security-10.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://tomcat.apache.org/security-8.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://tomcat.apache.org/security-9.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4835

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rce5ac9... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rce5ac9a40173651d540babce59f6f3825f12c6d4e886ba00823b11e5%40%3Cannounce.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rca833c... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rca833c6d42b7b9ce1563488c0929f29fcc95947d86e5e740258c8937@%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbba08c... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbba08c4dcef3603e36276d49adda8eedbe458c5104314b4038f697e1@%3Cusers.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rabbe6b... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rabbe6b3ae6a9795641d7a05c00d2378d5bbbe4240b7e20f09b092cce@%3Cissues.guacamole.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/raa0e9a... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/raa0e9ad388c1e6fd1e301b5e080f9439f64cb4178119a86a4801cc53@%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra9fcdb... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra9fcdb904dd2e2256ef90b3e4ced279cd464cb0ab63a6c64df5c010d@%3Cannounce.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra9fcdb... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra9fcdb904dd2e2256ef90b3e4ced279cd464cb0ab63a6c64df5c010d@%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra35c8d... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra35c8d617b17d59f400112cebadec43ad379f98198b4a9726190d7ee@%3Cissues.guacamole.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9fd47f... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9fd47f1b03e9b41d16a5cf72659b533887267d3398d963c2fff3abfa@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8a227a... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8a227ac6a755a6406c1cc47dd48800e973d4cf13fe7fe68ac59c679c@%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r5a2852... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r5a285242737ddef4d338236328aaaf3237183e1465a5efafd16b99ed@%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2d6e05... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2d6e05c5ff96f8068a59dfdb3800e9ee8d4e36ce1971783c6e5f9b20@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r26a2a6... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r26a2a66339087fc37db3caf201e446d3e83b5cce314371e235ff1784@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E

Apache Tomcat Source Repository REPOSITORY

https://github.com/apache/tomcat

bz.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.c... WEB

https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=64830

Apache Tomcat Security Information SECURITY

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/12/03/3

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-17527?

CVE-2020-17527 is a security vulnerability in Apache Tomcat involving Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in Apache Tomcat under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.

Which Apache Tomcat versions are affected?

Affected versions include releases prior to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60 across affected packages: org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote.

What version fixes CVE-2020-17527?

Upgrading to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.

Is tomcat-coyote affected?

Yes, org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote is affected in releases prior to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60. Upgrade your dependency to 10.0.0-M10, 9.0.40, 8.5.60 or later.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-17527?

CVE-2020-17527 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-17527?

CVE-2020-17527 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).

How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2020-17527?

Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.tomcat'. 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

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  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-200" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-04-12T16:06:44Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-12-03T19:15:00Z"
  }
}

CVSS V3

7.5 HIGH

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 None (I:N)

Availability None (A:N)

Vector String

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Advisory Metadata

Source ID: GHSA-vvw4-rfwf-p6hx
Schema Version: 1.4.0
Published: 2022-02-09 22:58
Last Modified: 2024-03-11 16:33
Database Record File: advisories/github-reviewed/2022/02/GHSA-vvw4-rfwf-p6hx/GHSA-vvw4-rfwf-p6hx.json