CVE-2020-5301 | Information disclosure of source code in SimpleSAMLphp

SimpleSAMLphp versions before 1.18.6 contain an information disclosure vulnerability. The module controller in `SimpleSAML\Module` that processes requests for pages hosted by modules, has code to identify paths ending with `.php` and process those as PHP code. If no other suitable way of handling the given path exists it presents the file to the browser. The check to identify paths ending with `.php` does not account for uppercase letters. If someone requests a path ending with e.g. `.PHP` and the server is serving the code from a case-insensitive file system, such as on Windows, the processing of the PHP code does not occur, and the source code is instead presented to the browser. An attacker may use this issue to gain access to the source code in third-party modules that is meant to be private, or even sensitive. However, the attack surface is considered small, as the attack will only work when SimpleSAMLphp serves such content from a file system that is not case-sensitive, such as on Windows. This issue is fixed in version 1.18.6.

Published: 2020-04-21 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-5301 is rated Low Risk (32.2/100): CVSS Low severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.92%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2020-5301

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 0.14% 0.92% +0.78%
2 2026-03-04 0.21% 0.14% -0.07%
3 2026-03-01 — 0.21% —

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-5301

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.0 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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: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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.3 1.4 [email protected]
3.1 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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: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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.6 1.4 [email protected]
3.5 2.0 LOW
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 6.8 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-5301

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-5301

GHSA-24m3-w8g9-jwpq · Severity: low · Ecosystem: composer — Information disclosure of source code in SimpleSAMLphp

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-5301

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2020-5301 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (simplesamlphp), 3 status rows across 3 suites (bookworm, bullseye, sid): resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-5301
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-5301 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (simplesamlphp), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, eoan, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 4, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-5301

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-5301

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
simplesamlphp simplesamlphp < 1.18.6 cpe:2.3:a:simplesamlphp:simplesamlphp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-5301

cvelogic Threat Intelligence