CVE-2020-11689
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 · uneditedIn JetBrains TeamCity before 2019.2.1, a user without appropriate permissions was able to import settings from the settings.kts file.
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 confidenceThis is an authorization bypass vulnerability in JetBrains TeamCity where users lacking proper permissions could import settings from the settings.kts configuration file. This could allow unauthorized configuration changes or privilege escalation by importing malicious or elevated-permission settings.
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< 2019.2.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed TeamCity versionLog in to the TeamCity web interface as an administrator and navigate to the 'About' page or server administration section to view the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is any release prior to 2019.2.1
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Locate the settings import functionalityIn the TeamCity administration interface, browse to the 'Server Administration' or 'Project Settings' area and look for options related to importing settings from a settings.kts fileAffected if The settings.kts import feature is present and accessible in the user interface
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Verify permission configuration for settings importAccess the 'User Management' or 'Roles and Permissions' section in TeamCity administration and examine which roles or user groups have permissions to perform settings import operationsAffected if Any user role or group other than full administrators has permissions to import settings from settings.kts files
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Check for unauthenticated or low-privilege accessIf possible, attempt to access the settings import functionality using an account that does not have administrator privileges, or review the access logs for any settings import actions performed by non-administrative usersAffected if Users lacking full administrative rights can successfully import settings from the settings.kts configuration file
You are affected if your TeamCity installation version is below 2019.2.1 and the settings.kts import functionality is accessible to users who should not have that capability.
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 data2019.2.1
Upgrade TeamCity to version 2019.2.1 or later which contains the fix for this authorization bypass. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict user permissions related to settings import functionality through TeamCity's access control settings.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11689 — 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-2020-11689 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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- 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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