CVE-2020-14204
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 WebFOCUS Business Intelligence 8.0 (SP6), the administration portal allows remote attackers to read arbitrary local files or forge server-side HTTP requests via a crafted HTTP request to /ibi_apps/WFServlet.cfg because XML external entity injection is possible. This is related to making changes to the application repository configuration.
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 confidenceWebFOCUS Business Intelligence 8.0 SP6 contains an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in the /ibi_apps/WFServlet.cfg endpoint. Attackers can craft malicious XML requests to read arbitrary local files from the server filesystem or perform server-side request forgery (SSRF) to forge HTTP requests to internal resources.
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= 8.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/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 WebFOCUS installationLocate WebFOCUS Business Intelligence installation directory - common paths include /ibi, /opt/ibi, or C:\ibi on Windows. Check for ibi directory or WebFOCUS service running on typical ports (8080, 8081, 8088).Affected if WebFOCUS Business Intelligence version 8.0 is installed and running.
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Verify product versionCheck the installed version of WebFOCUS BI. This is typically visible in the Admin console, or check version files in the installation directory. Look for version 8.0 specifically.Affected if Installed version is exactly 8.0 (any SP level of 8.0).
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Confirm WFServlet endpoint existsCheck if the /ibi_apps/WFServlet endpoint is accessible on the server. Attempt to access http(s)://<server>:<port>/ibi_apps/WFServlet.cfg or WFServlet directly. The .cfg extension may reveal the configuration endpoint.Affected if The /ibi_apps/WFServlet endpoint is exposed and responds to requests.
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Check XML processing capabilityVerify that the WFServlet endpoint accepts and processes XML content. This is the default behavior - the vulnerability exists when XML with external entities is processed.Affected if The endpoint accepts XML payloads and processes them without disabling external entity resolution.
A user is affected if they have WebFOCUS BI version 8.0 running with the /ibi_apps/WFServlet endpoint accessible and processing XML requests without XXE protections.
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 the XML parser configuration for the WFServlet endpoint and apply the vendor patch when available. Consider network segmentation to limit administrative interface exposure.
- 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-2020-14204 — 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-2020-14204 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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