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Websphere DeployerApplication · Jenkins

CVE-2019-16561

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.6.1 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
Jenkins WebSphere Deployer Plugin 1.6.1 and earlier allows users with Overall/Read access to disable SSL/TLS certificate and hostname validation for the entire Jenkins master JVM.

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 confidence

The Jenkins WebSphere Deployer Plugin versions 1.6.1 and earlier contains a design flaw where users with only Overall/Read permission (the most basic Jenkins permission) can configure the plugin to disable SSL/TLS certificate and hostname validation for all outbound HTTPS connections from the Jenkins master JVM. This occurs because the plugin's configuration does not enforce elevated privileges for security-critical settings that affect the entire JVM's SSL context.

MitigationUpgrade the WebSphere Deployer Plugin to version 1.6.2 or later, which restricts SSL/TLS validation settings to users with appropriate administrative permissions. If upgrading is not possible, review and restrict Overall/Read access permissions and monitor for unauthorized configuration changes.

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
Websphere DeployerApplication
Affected:<= 1.6.1

CVSS 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
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if WebSphere Deployer Plugin is installed
    Navigate to Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins > Installed tab, then search for 'WebSphere Deployer' in the filter. Confirm whether the plugin appears in the list of installed plugins.
    Affected if The WebSphere Deployer plugin is present in the installed plugins list.
  2. Verify the installed plugin version
    In the installed plugins list, locate the WebSphere Deployer plugin and note its version number from the Version column. Compare this version against the affected range: 1.6.1 and earlier.
    Affected if The installed version is 1.6.1 or any version earlier than 1.6.1.
  3. Locate the plugin configuration
    Go to Manage Jenkins > Configure System and look for the WebSphere Deployer configuration section, or navigate to the specific configuration page for the WebSphere Deployer plugin if it has a dedicated configuration screen under Manage Jenkins.
    Affected if The plugin has a configuration interface accessible in Jenkins system settings.
  4. Inspect SSL/TLS validation settings
    In the WebSphere Deployer plugin configuration, look for any settings related to SSL/TLS certificate validation, hostname validation, or SSL security settings. Identify whether any option to disable certificate or hostname validation is present and whether it is enabled.
    Affected if An option to disable SSL/TLS certificate validation or hostname validation exists and is currently enabled in the plugin configuration.

The environment is affected if the WebSphere Deployer Plugin version 1.6.1 or earlier is installed AND SSL/TLS validation has been disabled through the plugin configuration, which can be done by any user with basic Overall/Read permission.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.6.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade the WebSphere Deployer Plugin to version 1.6.2 or later, which restricts SSL/TLS validation settings to users with appropriate administrative permissions. If upgrading is not possible, review and restrict Overall/Read access permissions and monitor for unauthorized configuration changes.

Fix this in Websphere Deployer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-16561 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data