CVE-2020-15821
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 YouTrack before 2020.2.6881, a user without permission is able to create an article draft.
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 confidenceJetBrains YouTrack before version 2020.2.6881 contains an access control vulnerability where users without proper permissions can create article drafts in the knowledge base. This represents an authorization bypass allowing unauthorized content creation.
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< 2020.2.6881CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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.
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Determine installed YouTrack versionAccess the YouTrack administration interface and navigate to the 'About' or 'Version' section typically found under Administration > System > Overview. Alternatively, check the installation directory for version metadata files or the startup logs which display the version number on service start.Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 2020.2.6881 (for example, 2020.2, 2020.1, 2019.x series)
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Verify Knowledge Base module is activeIn the YouTrack administration panel, navigate to the Knowledge Base (or Articles) module settings. Confirm whether the knowledge base feature is enabled for any project or globally in the system.Affected if The Knowledge Base module is enabled and accessible to users in your YouTrack instance
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Inspect user role assignments for article creationUnder Administration > Users & Security > Roles (or Permissions), review the permissions assigned to standard user roles. Specifically check if the 'Create Article' or 'Write Article' permission is granted to roles that should have restricted access.Affected if Users assigned to roles with limited permissions (such as Guest, Reporter, or Viewer roles) can create or save article drafts when they should not have this ability
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Test unauthorized article draft creationLog in as a user with minimal permissions (such as a Guest or restricted user account). Attempt to navigate to the Knowledge Base section and create a new article draft or save a draft article. Observe whether the action succeeds without proper authorization.Affected if The restricted user account successfully creates an article draft despite lacking elevated permissions for knowledge base content creation
Your YouTrack installation is affected if it runs version 2020.2.6881 or lower, the Knowledge Base module is enabled, and users with restricted permissions can create article drafts in the knowledge base.
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 data2020.2.6881
Upgrade YouTrack to version 2020.2.6881 or later to resolve the authorization flaw. Prior to upgrade, consider limiting or monitoring access to article creation features.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15821 — 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-2020-15821 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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