CVE-2020-12480
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 Play Framework 2.6.0 through 2.8.1, the CSRF filter can be bypassed by making CORS simple requests with content types that contain parameters that can't be parsed.
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 confidenceThe CSRF filter in Play Framework 2.6.0 through 2.8.1 can be bypassed by sending CORS simple requests with content types containing parameters that the framework cannot parse. This occurs because the filter fails to properly validate CSRF tokens when processing certain malformed content-type headers in CORS requests.
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>= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.25>= 2.7.0, <= 2.7.4>= 2.8.0, <= 2.8.1CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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.
-
Identify the Play Framework versionCheck your project build file (build.sbt or pom.xml) for the Play Framework dependency version, or run `play-core` version command if available in your deploymentAffected if the installed version falls within 2.6.0-2.6.25, 2.7.0-2.7.4, or 2.8.0-2.8.1
-
Confirm CSRF filter is enabledLook for CSRF filter configuration in your application.conf file under play.filters.csrf or verify csrf.filter is present in your filters configurationAffected if the CSRF filter is actively applied to your application routes
-
Verify CORS is configuredCheck your application.conf for play.filters.cors configuration or look for CORS-related settings in your filter chainAffected if CORS is enabled and handling cross-origin requests in your Play application
-
Inspect content-type handling in CORS requestsReview how your Play application handles Content-Type headers in CORS preflight and simple requests, particularly for types with parameters that may be unparseableAffected if your application accepts CORS requests with malformed or complex content-type headers that the framework cannot properly parse for CSRF token validation
Your environment is affected if you run a Play Framework version between 2.6.0 and 2.8.1 with both the CSRF filter and CORS enabled, and your application processes cross-origin requests with content-type headers containing parameters.
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 dataUpgrade Play Framework to version 2.8.2 or later where this vulnerability is patched. After upgrading, thoroughly test CORS and CSRF functionality to ensure the protection works as expected.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12480 — 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-2020-12480 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
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.
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.
- 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