CVE-2020-13920

Apache ActiveMQ uses LocateRegistry.createRegistry() to create the JMX RMI registry and binds the server to the "jmxrmi" entry. It is possible to connect to the registry without authentication and call the rebind method to rebind jmxrmi to something else. If an attacker creates another server to proxy the original, and bound that, he effectively becomes a man in the middle and is able to intercept the credentials when an user connects. Upgrade to Apache ActiveMQ 5.15.12.

Published: 2020-09-10 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-13920 is rated Moderate Risk (59.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.56%, 90th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +4.39% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-13920

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 0.17% 4.56% +4.39%
2 2026-03-11 0.30% 0.17% -0.13%
3 2026-02-27 — 0.30% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-13920

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.2 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-13920

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-13920

GHSA-xgrx-xpv2-6vp4 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Improper Authentication in Apache ActiveMQ

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-13920

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-13920 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (activemq), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, bullseye, sid, trixie): resolved 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-13920
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-13920
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-13920 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (activemq), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 9, released 4, DNE 1, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-13920

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-13920

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache activemq < 5.15.12 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_diameter_signaling_router >= 8.0.0, <= 8.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_signaling_router:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_private_banking 12.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_private_banking:12.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_private_banking 12.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_private_banking:12.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-13920

cvelogic Threat Intelligence