dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
NexusApplication · Sonatype

CVE-2020-10199

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.21.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable Zero-click Patch available

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 before 3.21.2 allows JavaEL Injection (issue 1 of 2).

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

Sonatype Nexus Repository versions prior to 3.21.2 contain a Java Expression Language (JavaEL) injection vulnerability. This allows authenticated attackers to inject and execute arbitrary Java code through unsanitized input being interpreted as EL expressions, potentially leading to remote code execution on the host system.

MitigationUpgrade Sonatype Nexus Repository to version 3.21.2 or later. Until patched, limit administrative access to trusted users and consider network segmentation to reduce attack surface.

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
NexusApplication
Affected:< 3.21.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Sonatype Nexus Repository version
    Log into the Nexus administrative interface and navigate to 'Administration' > 'System' > 'Capabilities' or check the wrapper.log/wrapper.conf file for the version number. Alternatively, access the API at /nexus/rest/internal/ui/latestversion or /service/siesta/rest/v1/script/ before login.
    Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 3.21.2
  2. Verify authentication is required for administrative functions
    Attempt to access the Nexus administrative interface (typically on port 8081) without providing credentials. Check the security configuration under 'Administration' > 'Security' to confirm 'Anonymous Access' is disabled and authentication is enforced for all operations.
    Affected if Anonymous access is enabled or administrative interfaces are accessible without authentication, allowing unauthenticated attackers to reach the vulnerable input fields
  3. Identify exposed user-supplied input fields
    Review the Nexus repository configuration for fields that accept user input, particularly in repository creation, script execution, or task configuration areas. Check under 'Administration' > 'Repositories', 'Administration' > 'Tasks', and any custom scripting capabilities.
    Affected if The Nexus instance exposes input fields that accept arbitrary text which could be processed as EL expressions, particularly in scripting or task configuration features
  4. Check for suspicious log entries indicating exploitation attempts
    Review Nexus logs (typically found in /log/nexus.log or /log/request.log) for patterns such as '${', '#{', '.getClass()', 'Runtime.getRuntime()', or other Java EL injection payloads in user input fields.
    Affected if Logs contain evidence of EL injection payloads or unexpected code execution patterns in user input fields

The environment is affected if Sonatype Nexus Repository version is below 3.21.2 and authenticated users or attackers can access input fields that process Java Expression Language expressions.

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 3.21.2 or later
Fixed in 3.21.2
Vendor patch packetstormsecurity.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Sonatype Nexus Repository to version 3.21.2 or later. Until patched, limit administrative access to trusted users and consider network segmentation to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix High confidence

Nexus Repository 3.21.2 or later

  1. 1. Back up the existing Nexus Repository installation, data directory, and configuration files.
  2. 2. Download Nexus Repository version 3.21.2 or later from the official Sonatype download page (https://help.sonatype.com/display/NXRM3/Download).
  3. 3. Stop the running Nexus Repository service.
  4. 4. Install the new version following the standard upgrade procedure documented at https://help.sonatype.com/display/NXRM3/Upgrade.
  5. 5. Start the Nexus Repository service after installation completes.
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by logging into the administration console and confirming the version number.
  7. 7. Test that the JavaEL Injection vulnerability is no longer exploitable.

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

Fix this in Nexus Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,464.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10199 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-10199 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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