CVE-2020-13956

Apache HttpClient versions prior to version 4.5.13 and 5.0.3 can misinterpret malformed authority component in request URIs passed to the library as java.net.URI object and pick the wrong target host for request execution.

Published: 2020-12-02 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-13956 is rated Moderate Risk (59.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 8.67%, 94th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +8.15% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: 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-2020-13956

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 0.52% 8.67% +8.15%
2 2025-11-21 12.77% 0.52% -12.25%
3 2025-11-18 12.77%

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-13956

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N 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:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-13956

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-13956

GHSA-7r82-7xv7-xcpj · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Cross-site scripting in Apache HttpClient

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-13956

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-13956 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (httpcomponents-client), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-13956
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-13956
suse medium CVE-2020-13956 severity moderate: SUSE including 252 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 318 product×package rows across 59 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Enterprise Storage 5, … (59 product lines)): Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 70, Fixed 17. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-13956/
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-13956 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (httpcomponents-client), 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 5, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-13956

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-13956

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache httpclient < 4.5.13 cpe:2.3:a:apache:httpclient:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache httpclient >= 5.0.0, < 5.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:httpclient:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
quarkus quarkus < 1.7.6 cpe:2.3:a:quarkus:quarkus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle data_integrator 12.2.1.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:data_integrator:12.2.1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle data_integrator 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:data_integrator:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle jd_edwards_enterpriseone_orchestrator < 9.2.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:jd_edwards_enterpriseone_orchestrator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle jd_edwards_enterpriseone_tools < 9.2.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:jd_edwards_enterpriseone_tools:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle nosql_database < 20.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:nosql_database:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.57 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.57:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_pt_peopletools 8.57 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_pt_peopletools:8.57:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_pt_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_pt_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_pt_peopletools 8.59 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_pt_peopletools:8.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier >= 17.7, <= 17.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 16.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:16.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 16.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:16.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 18.8 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:18.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 19.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:19.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 20.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:20.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_customer_management_and_segmentation_foundation >= 16.0, <= 19.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_customer_management_and_segmentation_foundation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle spatial_studio < 20.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:spatial_studio:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle sql_developer < 20.4.1.407.0006 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:sql_developer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:vmware_vsphere:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
netapp snapcenter cpe:2.3:a:netapp:snapcenter:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle commerce_guided_search 11.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:commerce_guided_search:11.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_cloud_native_core_service_communication_proxy 1.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_service_communication_proxy:1.14.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle sql_developer < 21.99 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:sql_developer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle weblogic_server 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:weblogic_server:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle weblogic_server 14.1.1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:weblogic_server:14.1.1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-13956

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https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220210-0002/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://priyankn.github.io/2021-02-26-CVE-2020-13956/
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