CVE-2020-11690
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 IntelliJ IDEA before 2020.1, the license server could be resolved to an untrusted host in some cases.
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 confidenceIn JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA before 2020.1, the license server connection could be redirected to an untrusted host due to improper resolution, potentially allowing man-in-the-middle attacks during license validation.
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< 2020.1CVSS 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine your IntelliJ IDEA versionOpen IntelliJ IDEA, go to Help > About (on Windows: Help > About IntelliJ IDEA; on macOS: IntelliJ IDEA > About IntelliJ IDEA). The version number is displayed in the dialog that appears.Affected if The version shown is any release before 2020.1 (for example, 2019.3, 2019.2, etc.)
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Check license activation methodGo to Help > Register (or Help > Manage License on newer versions). Look at how the IDE is licensed: it may show JetBrains Account, License Server, or a standalone activation key.Affected if The license is set to use License Server (either custom or JetBrains-hosted) and the IDE version is before 2020.1
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Verify license server URL configurationIn the license registration dialog, examine the License Server URL field if present. For custom license servers, check if the URL points to a server you control and uses HTTPS.Affected if The license server URL is HTTP (not HTTPS), points to an untrusted or unknown host, or the connection could be intercepted on the network
You are affected if your IntelliJ IDEA version is earlier than 2020.1 and you use license server activation (rather than a standalone activation key), because the license server connection could be redirected to an attacker-controlled host.
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.
dbcve · scoped2020.1
Upgrade IntelliJ IDEA to version 2020.1 or later to resolve the license server resolution vulnerability.
IntelliJ IDEA 2020.1 or later
- Back up your IntelliJ IDEA settings and any important projects
- Download IntelliJ IDEA 2020.1 or later from the official JetBrains website (jetbrains.com/idea)
- Run the installer and follow the prompts to install the new version
- Launch IntelliJ IDEA 2020.1 or later to verify the upgrade was successful
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11690 — 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-2020-11690 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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