CVE-2020-2196: Selenium Complete Lack Of CSRF Protection Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-rp4x-xpgf-4xv7
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CVSS 7.1
CWE-352
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-2196 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.1) complete lack of csrf protection vulnerability (CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)) affecting Selenium libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves complete lack of csrf protection in jenkins selenium plugin can lead to os command injection. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2020-2196 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-2196
GHSA Identifier GHSA-rp4x-xpgf-4xv7
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.1
CWE Classification CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Affected Product Selenium
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.1

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2020-2196

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Selenium 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.jenkins-ci.plugins:selenium fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.jenkins-ci.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>selenium</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</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.jenkins-ci.plugins

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2020-2196, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.jenkins-ci.plugins

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Selenium 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 mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.jenkins-ci.plugins 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-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), where the web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor. In Selenium, 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

Selenium Plugin 3.141.59 and earlier has no CSRF protection for its HTTP endpoints. This allows attackers to perform the following actions: - Restart the Selenium Grid hub. - Delete or replace the plugin configuration. - Start, stop, or restart Selenium configurations on specific nodes. Through carefully chosen configuration parameters, these actions can result in OS command injection on the Jenkins controller.

CVE-2020-2196 Affected Selenium Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.jenkins-ci.plugins:selenium
maven/org.jenkins-ci.plugins/selenium
Maven
≤ 3.141.59

References

NVD — CVE-2020-2196 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-2196
Selenium Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/jenkinsci/selenium-plugin
Selenium Security Information SECURITY
https://jenkins.io/security/advisory/2020-06-03/#SECURITY-1766
Selenium Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/06/03/3
Selenium Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/04/14/2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-2196?
CVE-2020-2196 is a security vulnerability in Selenium involving Complete lack of CSRF protection in Jenkins Selenium Plugin can lead to OS command injection under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).
Which Selenium versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: org.jenkins-ci.plugins:selenium.
What version fixes CVE-2020-2196?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is selenium affected?
Yes, org.jenkins-ci.plugins:selenium 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-2020-2196?
CVE-2020-2196 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-2196?
CVE-2020-2196 is classified under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (The web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2020-2196?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.jenkins-ci.plugins'. 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-rp4x-xpgf-4xv7",
  "modified" : "2022-12-20T23:03:58Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T17:19:04Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-2196" ],
  "summary" : "Complete lack of CSRF protection in Jenkins Selenium Plugin can lead to OS command injection",
  "details" : "Selenium Plugin 3.141.59 and earlier has no CSRF protection for its HTTP endpoints.\n\nThis allows attackers to perform the following actions:\n- Restart the Selenium Grid hub.\n- Delete or replace the plugin configuration.\n- Start, stop, or restart Selenium configurations on specific nodes.\n\nThrough carefully chosen configuration parameters, these actions can result in OS command injection on the Jenkins controller.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.jenkins-ci.plugins:selenium"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "3.141.59"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-2196"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jenkinsci/selenium-plugin"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://jenkins.io/security/advisory/2020-06-03/#SECURITY-1766"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/06/03/3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/04/14/2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-352" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-12-20T23:03:58Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-06-03T13:15:00Z"
  }
}