CVE-2020-5405 | Directory Traversal with spring-cloud-config-server

Spring Cloud Config, versions 2.2.x prior to 2.2.2, versions 2.1.x prior to 2.1.7, and older unsupported versions allow applications to serve arbitrary configuration files through the spring-cloud-config-server module. A malicious user, or attacker, can send a request using a specially crafted URL that can lead a directory traversal attack.

Published: 2020-03-05 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-5405 is rated Moderate Risk (62.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 87.99%, 99th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +2.12% 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-2020-5405

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 2025-11-24 85.87% 87.99% +2.12%
2 2025-11-21 24.69% 85.87% +61.18%
3 2025-11-18 — 24.69% —

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-5405

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/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:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
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.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-5405

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-5405

GHSA-g86w-v5vg-9gxf · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Directory traversal attack in Spring Cloud Config

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-5405

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-5405

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-5405

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware spring_cloud_config >= 2.1.0, < 2.1.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_cloud_config:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware spring_cloud_config >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_cloud_config:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-5405

cvelogic Threat Intelligence