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Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2020-14299

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
A flaw was found in JBoss EAP, where the authentication configuration is set-up using a legacy SecurityRealm, to delegate to a legacy PicketBox SecurityDomain, and then reloaded to admin-only mode. This flaw allows an attacker to perform a complete authentication bypass by using an arbitrary user and password. The highest threat to vulnerability is to system availability.

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 confidence

JBoss EAP allows authentication bypass when using legacy SecurityRealm configuration that delegates to PicketBox SecurityDomain and is reloaded to admin-only mode. An attacker can authenticate with any username/password combination, completely bypassing authentication controls. The vulnerability stems from the legacy PicketBox security subsystem not properly enforcing authentication constraints after admin-only mode reload.

MitigationMigrate from legacy PicketBox SecurityDomain to the modern Elytron security subsystem in JBoss EAP, and ensure authentication configuration does not rely on deprecated/legacy security realms, particularly before reloading to admin-only mode.

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
Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication
Affected:< 5.0.3
Openshift Application RuntimesApplication
Affected:all versions
Single Sign OnApplication
Affected:= 7.0

CVSS 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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the JBoss EAP version
    Run 'jboss-cli.sh --version' or check the version banner in the admin console, then compare against the affected range (versions prior to 5.0.3)
    Affected if The installed version is less than 5.0.3 for Red Hat JBoss EAP, or the product is any version of Red Hat Openshift Application Runtimes, or the product is Red Hat Single Sign On version 7.0
  2. Determine if legacy PicketBox SecurityDomain is in use
    Inspect the standalone.xml or domain.xml configuration file for elements named 'security-domain' under the security subsystem, or check for 'org.picketbox' references in the security configuration
    Affected if The configuration contains a PicketBox-based security-domain that delegates to legacy authentication
  3. Verify if a legacy SecurityRealm is configured
    Search the configuration for 'security-realm' elements in the management interface section, and check if these realms delegate to the PicketBox SecurityDomain
    Affected if A legacy security-realm is defined and configured to delegate authentication to the PicketBox subsystem
  4. Check if admin-only mode reload has been performed
    Review server logs for messages indicating an admin-only mode reload operation (such as 'admin-only mode enabled' or 'reloaded in admin-only mode'), or check the current runtime configuration state
    Affected if The server has been reloaded into admin-only mode after the legacy security configuration was loaded
  5. Test authentication behavior in admin console or management interface
    Attempt to authenticate to the management interface using an invalid/incorrect username and password combination
    Affected if Authentication succeeds with arbitrary credentials, indicating the bypass is active

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable JBoss EAP/Openshift Application Runtimes/RHSSO version with legacy PicketBox SecurityDomain configuration that has been reloaded to admin-only mode.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.0.3 or later
Fixed in 5.0.3
Interim mitigation

Migrate from legacy PicketBox SecurityDomain to the modern Elytron security subsystem in JBoss EAP, and ensure authentication configuration does not rely on deprecated/legacy security realms, particularly before reloading to admin-only mode.

Fix this in Jboss Enterprise Application Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-14299 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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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