Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 10 Jun 2022.
Nexus Repository ManagerApplication · Sonatype

CVE-2019-7238

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-03-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.15.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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
Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager before 3.15.0 has Incorrect Access Control.

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 · moderate confidence

This is a pre-authentication incorrect access control vulnerability in Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager. The CVSS 9.8 score indicates that unauthenticated remote attackers can bypass access controls to access sensitive functionality without any credentials.

MitigationUpgrade Nexus Repository Manager to version 3.15.0 or later to remediate this 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
Nexus Repository ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 3.0.0, < 3.15.0

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

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

  1. Locate the Nexus Repository Manager version
    Access the web interface and navigate to Administration > Support > About, or check the version via the command line using 'grep -r "version" <nexus_installation_dir>/nexus/etc/nexus.properties' or the 'bin/nexus --version' command if available
    Affected if The version displayed is 3.0.0 or later but earlier than 3.15.0
  2. Confirm the installation is accessible
    Verify that the Nexus web interface is reachable over HTTP/HTTPS on the configured port (default 8081 or 8082)
    Affected if The web interface is exposed and responds to requests
  3. Verify the permission configuration
    Check that the anonymous access feature is enabled (Administration > Security > Anonymous Access) and that the default anonymous user has any meaningful permissions assigned
    Affected if Anonymous access is enabled and the anonymous user has been granted any role or permission beyond read-only or no access

A Nexus Repository Manager installation is affected if its installed version falls between 3.0.0 and 3.14.9 inclusive and the web interface is accessible to unauthenticated users.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.15.0 or later
Fixed in 3.15.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Nexus Repository Manager to version 3.15.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Nexus Repository Manager 3.15.0 or later

  1. Verify current Nexus Repository Manager version by accessing the web interface or checking the system information
  2. Backup the current Nexus installation directory, data directory, and database (if using external DB)
  3. Download Nexus Repository Manager version 3.15.0 or later from the official Sonatype download page
  4. Stop the Nexus Repository Manager service
  5. Extract the new version to the installation directory, preserving configuration files
  6. If using an external database, ensure database compatibility with the new version
  7. Start the Nexus Repository Manager service
  8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version in the web interface
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and 3.15.0; may require Java version updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nexus Repository Manager Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-7238 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-7238 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