Improper Input Validation in Hibernate Validator

CVE-2020-10693 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

A flaw was found in Hibernate Validator version 6.1.2.Final. A bug in the message interpolation processor enables invalid EL expressions to be evaluated as if they were valid. This flaw allows attackers to bypass input sanitation (escaping, stripping) controls that developers may have put in place when handling user-controlled data in error messages.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
—
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2021-06-04 21:36:34 UTC
Updated
2025-09-12 20:15:10 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2021-05-11 17:51:21 UTC
NVD published
2020-05-06

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.29% 52.72%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.3 3.1 —
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.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-rmrm-75hp-phr2 ↗
CVE CVE-2020-10693 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

Affected packages (4)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven org.hibernate.validator:hibernate-validator >= 6.1.0.Final, <= 6.1.4.Final 6.1.5.Final —
maven org.hibernate.validator:hibernate-validator <= 6.0.19.Final 6.0.20.Final —
maven org.hibernate:hibernate-validator >= 6.1.0.Final, <= 6.1.4.Final 6.1.5.Final —
maven org.hibernate:hibernate-validator <= 6.0.19.Final 6.0.20.Final —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence