Varnish CacheApplication

CVE-2019-20637

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.0.5 / 6.2.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An issue was discovered in Varnish Cache before 6.0.5 LTS, 6.1.x and 6.2.x before 6.2.2, and 6.3.x before 6.3.1. It does not clear a pointer between the handling of one client request and the next request within the same connection. This sometimes causes information to be disclosed from the connection workspace, such as data structures associated with previous requests within this connection or VCL-related temporary headers.

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

Varnish Cache fails to clear a pointer between handling consecutive client requests within the same connection. This causes data from previous requests (including VCL temporary headers and connection workspace data) to potentially leak into subsequent requests, resulting in information disclosure.

MitigationUpgrade Varnish Cache to version 6.0.5 LTS, 6.2.2, or 6.3.1 or later to patch the memory handling vulnerability.

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
Varnish CacheApplication
Affected:>= 6.1.0, < 6.2.2>= 6.3.0, < 6.3.1
Varnish CacheApplication
Affected:>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.5
Backports SleApplication
Affected:= 15.0
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.1

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Identify installed Varnish version
    Run `varnishd -V` or check package manager output (e.g., `rpm -q varnish`, `dpkg -l varnish`)
    Affected if Version is 6.0.0-6.0.4, 6.1.0-6.2.1, or 6.3.0
  2. Confirm Varnish service is running
    Run `varnishd -V` or check process status with `ps aux | grep varnish`
    Affected if Varnish is running any affected version listed above
  3. Verify HTTP keep-alive is enabled (default behavior)
    Check VCL configuration with `varnishd -C` or inspect varnishd startup options; look for `keepalive_timeout` or `http_keepalive` settings in VCL or command line
    Affected if Keep-alive connections are allowed (default), as the vulnerability only triggers between consecutive requests within the same connection

You are affected if Varnish version is 6.0.0-6.0.4, 6.1.0-6.2.1, or 6.3.0 and keep-alive connections are enabled (default), allowing potential data leakage between consecutive requests in the same connection.

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 6.0.5 / 6.2.2 / 6.3.1 or later
Fixed in 6.0.56.2.26.3.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Varnish Cache to version 6.0.5 LTS, 6.2.2, or 6.3.1 or later to patch the memory handling vulnerability.

Fix this in Varnish Cache Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2019-20637 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