Exploited· due 2022-03-179.8criticalCritical

CVE-2020-1938

Apache Geode

When using the Apache JServ Protocol (AJP), care must be taken when trusting incoming connections to Apache Tomcat. Tomcat treats AJP connections as having higher trust than, for example, a similar HTTP connection. If such connections are available to an attacker, they can be exploited in ways that may be surprising. In Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.30, 8.5.0 to 8.5.50 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.99, Tomcat shipped with an AJP Connector enabled by default that listened on all configured IP addresses. It was expected (and recommended in the security guide) that this Connector would be disabled if not required. This vulnerability report identified a mechanism that allowed: - returning arbitrary files from anywhere in the web application - processing any file in the web application as a JSP Further, if the web application allowed file upload and stored those files within the web application (or the attacker was able to control the content of the web application by some other means) then this, along with the ability to process a file as a JSP, made remote code execution possible. It is important to note that mitigation is only required if an AJP port is accessible to untrusted users. Users wishing to take a defence-in-depth approach and block the vector that permits returning arbitrary files and execution as JSP may upgrade to Apache Tomcat 9.0.31, 8.5.51 or 7.0.100 or later. A number of changes were made to the default AJP Connector configuration in 9.0.31 to harden the default configuration. It is likely that users upgrading to 9.0.31, 8.5.51 or 7.0.100 or later will need to make small changes to their configurations.

Exploitation status

  • CISA has confirmed this is being exploited in the wild. That is an observation of real attacks, not a prediction.
  • US federal civilian agencies are required to remediate it by 2022-03-17. That deadline does not bind private companies, but it is a reasonable benchmark for how urgently CISA views it.
  • A vendor advisory or patch reference has been published.

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA’s wording, unedited.

What the metrics mean

  • It is reachable over a network, without needing local access.
  • For an attacker who can reach it, no special conditions are needed to exploit it.
  • To exploit it, no account is needed.
  • Beyond that, no action by a user is required.

Scoring

CVSS
9.8 (v3.1)
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigned by
security@apache.org

Dates

Published
2020-02-24
Last modified
2026-08-25
Added to KEV
2022-03-03
Remediation due
2022-03-17
Sources
CISA KEV, NVD

Affected products

  • Apache Geode1.12.0
  • Apache Tomcat7.0.0 - 7.0.100, 8.5.0 - 8.5.51, 9.0.0 - 9.0.31
  • Fedoraproject Fedora30, 31, 32
  • Oracle Agile Engineering Data Management6.2.1.0
  • Oracle Agile Product Lifecycle Management9.3.3, 9.3.5, 9.3.6
  • Oracle Communications Element Manager8.1.1, 8.2.0, 8.2.1
  • Oracle Communications Instant Messaging Server10.0.1.4.0
  • Oracle Health Sciences Empirica Inspections1.0.1.2
  • Oracle Health Sciences Empirica Signal7.3.3
  • Oracle Hospitality Guest Access4.2.0, 4.2.1
  • Oracle Instantis Enterprisetrack17.1 - 17.3
  • Oracle Mysql Enterprise Monitor- 4.0.12, 8.0.0 - 8.0.20

As listed in the NVD configuration data. Not a statement about your estate.

References