Script SecurityApplication · Jenkins
CVE-2019-16538
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA sandbox bypass vulnerability in Jenkins Script Security Plugin 1.67 and earlier related to the handling of default parameter expressions in closures allowed attackers to execute arbitrary code in sandboxed scripts.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceJenkins Script Security Plugin versions 1.67 and earlier contained a sandbox bypass vulnerability where default parameter expressions in closures were not properly sandboxed. This allowed attackers with the ability to run sandboxed Groovy scripts to execute arbitrary code outside the sandbox restrictions.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Script SecurityApplication
<= 1.67CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed version of Script Security PluginNavigate to Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins > Installed tab, or use the Jenkins CLI: java -jar jenkins-cli.jar list-plugins | grep 'script-security'Affected if Version is 1.67 or earlier (the Plugin-Information page shows the version number)
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Verify Script Security Plugin is loaded and activeCheck Jenkins logs for plugin initialization, or navigate to Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins > Installed and confirm the plugin shows as 'Enabled'Affected if Plugin appears enabled and was loaded successfully at Jenkins startup
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Identify users with permission to run sandboxed scriptsNavigate to Manage Jenkins > Manage and Assign Users > Assign Roles, or check the authorization matrix for Overall/Run Scripts or Job/Configure permissions. Users with Overall/Administer or specific script execution permissions can leverage this vulnerabilityAffected if Any user or group has Overall/Run Scripts permission, or users can configure jobs/pipelines that use Groovy sandbox
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Check for active sandboxed script usage in jobsReview job configurations for pipelines or freestyle jobs that use the 'Groovy Sandbox' checkbox enabled in build steps, or search job configs for 'sandbox' keyword in Jenkinsfile or job XMLAffected if Any jobs or pipelines are configured to run with Groovy Sandbox enabled
You are affected if the Script Security Plugin version is 1.67 or earlier AND the plugin is enabled AND attackers can submit sandboxed Groovy scripts through jobs or the script console.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Jenkins Script Security Plugin to version 1.68 or later to patch the sandbox bypass. After upgrading, verify that existing sandboxed scripts still function correctly.
Fix this in Script Security
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-16538 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-16538 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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