CVE-2020-13883
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 WSO2 API Manager 3.0.0 and earlier, WSO2 API Microgateway 2.2.0, and WSO2 IS as Key Manager 5.9.0 and earlier, Management Console allows XXE during addition or update of a Lifecycle.
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 confidenceWSO2 products contain an XXE vulnerability in the Management Console that allows injection of malicious XML during lifecycle addition or update operations. Attackers can exploit this to read internal files or perform server-side request forgery by crafting specially designed XML payloads with external entity references.
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<= 3.0.0= 2.2.0<= 5.9.0CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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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Identify installed WSO2 product and versionLocate the product version from the WSO2 Management Console footer, or check the product's release_info.txt or version.properties file in the installation directoryAffected if The product is WSO2 API Manager <= 3.0.0, API Microgateway = 2.2.0, or Identity Server As Key Manager <= 5.9.0
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Verify Management Console network exposureConfirm the Management Console is accessible over the network. Check firewall rules, reverse proxy configurations, and bind addresses in deployment.toml or carbon.xmlAffected if The Management Console is exposed to untrusted networks or attackers can reach it
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Check if lifecycle management feature is in useNavigate to the API or artifact lifecycle management section in the Management Console and review if any APIs or service artifacts have lifecycle states configuredAffected if Lifecycle addition or update operations are performed on the system, as this is the attack vector for the XXE injection
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Review XML parser configuration for external entity processingExamine the XML parser settings in the WSO2 configuration files (typically in axis2.xml, carbon.xml, or related XML processing libraries) for whether external entity processing is enabledAffected if External entity processing is not explicitly disabled in the XML parser configuration, allowing XXE attacks to succeed
You are affected if you run an affected WSO2 product version, the Management Console is network-accessible, and lifecycle management features are in use with XML parsers allowing external entity processing.
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 dataDisable external entity processing in XML parsers used by the Management Console, apply vendor patches for the affected versions, and implement strict input validation for XML content in lifecycle configuration endpoints.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-13883 — 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-2020-13883 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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