CVE-2020-16163
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in RIPE NCC RPKI Validator 3.x before 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28. RRDP fetches proceed even with a lack of validation of a TLS HTTPS endpoint. This allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions, or to trigger denial of service to traffic directed to co-dependent routing systems. NOTE: third parties assert that the behavior is intentionally permitted by RFC 8182
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 RIPE NCC RPKI Validator 3.x fails to validate TLS/HTTPS endpoints during RRDP (RPKI Repository Delta Protocol) fetches. This allows remote attackers to trigger unvalidated connections to arbitrary endpoints, enabling bypass of intended access restrictions or denial of service against co-dependent routing systems that rely on RPKI validation data.
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, <= 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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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Confirm RIPE RPKI Validator installationLocate the RIPE RPKI Validator application on the system, typically installed in a directory named 'ripe-rpki-validator' or similar, or check running processes for 'rpki-validator'Affected if The software is present on the system
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Identify installed versionAccess the Validator web interface (default port 8080) and navigate to the About or Settings page to view the version number, or check version files in the installation directoryAffected if Version displays as 3.0 through 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 inclusive
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Verify RRDP fetch feature is enabledCheck the Validator configuration for RRDP (RPKI Repository Delta Protocol) settings - look for RRDP repository URLs configured under TAL or repository settings in the web interface or configuration filesAffected if RRDP is enabled and configured with one or more RRDP server URLs
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Confirm version is within affected rangeCompare the identified version against the vulnerable range: versions >= 3.0 and <= 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 are affectedAffected if Installed version falls within 3.0 to 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 AND RRDP is enabled
User is affected if RIPE RPKI Validator version 3.0 through 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 is installed with RRDP feature enabled, as this combination allows unvalidated connections to arbitrary HTTPS endpoints during RRDP fetches.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade RPKI Validator to version 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 or later, which implements proper TLS endpoint validation for RRDP transfers.
3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 or later
- 1. Identify the current installed version of RPKI Validator 3.x
- 2. Download RPKI Validator version 3.1-2020.07.06.14.28 or a later stable release from the official RIPE NCC repository
- 3. Follow the RIPE NCC upgrade instructions to install the fixed version
- 4. Verify the upgrade was successful and confirm RRDP fetches now properly validate TLS certificates
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- 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-2020-16163 — 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-2020-16163 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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