CVE-2020-11002 | Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in dropwizard-validation

Exp

dropwizard-validation before versions 2.0.3 and 1.3.21 has a remote code execution vulnerability. A server-side template injection was identified in the self-validating feature enabling attackers to inject arbitrary Java EL expressions, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability. If you are using a self-validating bean an upgrade to Dropwizard 1.3.21/2.0.3 or later is strongly recommended. The changes introduced in Dropwizard 1.3.19 and 2.0.2 for CVE-2020-5245 unfortunately did not fix the underlying issue completely. The issue has been fixed in dropwizard-validation 1.3.21 and 2.0.3 or later. We strongly recommend upgrading to one of these versions.

Published: 2020-04-10 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-11002 is rated High Exploit Risk (82.9/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.17%, 91th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +3.92% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-11002

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-11002

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 1.26% 5.17% +3.92%
2 2025-11-21 1.70% 1.26% -0.44%
3 2025-11-18 1.70%

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-11002

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.3 6.0 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
9.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
8.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-11002

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-11002

GHSA-8jpx-m2wh-2v34 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in dropwizard-validation

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-11002

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dropwizard dropwizard_validation < 1.3.21 cpe:2.3:a:dropwizard:dropwizard_validation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
dropwizard dropwizard_validation >= 2.0.0, < 2.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:dropwizard:dropwizard_validation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-11002

cvelogic Threat Intelligence