DubboApplication · Apache
CVE-2020-1948
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability can affect all Dubbo users stay on version 2.7.6 or lower. An attacker can send RPC requests with unrecognized service name or method name along with some malicious parameter payloads. When the malicious parameter is deserialized, it will execute some malicious code. More details can be found below.
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 confidenceDeserialization RCE vulnerability in Apache Dubbo versions 2.7.6 and below where attackers can send RPC requests with unrecognized service/method names containing malicious serialized payloads that execute arbitrary code during deserialization.
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
DubboApplication
>= 2.5.0, <= 2.5.10>= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.7>= 2.7.0, <= 2.7.6CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 Dubbo installation and versionCheck the Dubbo version in your application's pom.xml dependency, JAR manifest, or by querying the Dubbo service metadata if exposed. Run: grep -r 'dubbo.*version' pom.xml or examine the dubbo-*jar file names in your lib directory.Affected if The installed version falls within 2.5.0-2.5.10, 2.6.0-2.6.7, or 2.7.0-2.7.6.
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Confirm Dubbo RPC service is exposedCheck your Dubbo configuration files (e.g., application.yml, dubbo.properties, or XML bean configs) for <dubbo:protocol> or <dubbo:service> definitions. Look for exposed ports (commonly 20880) in your network listeners.Affected if Dubbo RPC protocol is exposed on a network-accessible port.
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Verify default serialization is in useExamine your Dubbo provider/consumer configuration for the serialization setting. Check for <dubbo:protocol serialization="hessian"> or similar. If no serialization is explicitly set, Dubbo defaults may apply.Affected if Hessian or other unsafe Java deserialization is enabled (the vulnerability exploits deserialization of unrecognized method payloads).
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Check for unrecognized method handlingReview your Dubbo service registry and routing configuration. The vulnerability triggers when requests target non-existent service or method names, allowing malicious payloads to reach the deserialization logic.Affected if Your Dubbo service accepts requests from the network without strict method/service validation.
You are affected if Dubbo version is between 2.5.0-2.7.6 and the RPC service is network-exposed with default or Hessian serialization enabled.
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 Dubbo to version 2.7.7 or later which contains the fix for this deserialization vulnerability.
Upgrade to Dubbo 2.7.7+ (or 2.6.8+ for 2.6.x line, or 2.5.11+ for 2.5.x line)
- 1. Identify your current Dubbo version by checking your pom.xml or dependency management
- 2. For Dubbo 2.7.x users: Upgrade to version 2.7.7 or later (recommended: 2.7.7.1 or later for additional security fixes)
- 3. For Dubbo 2.6.x users: Upgrade to version 2.6.8 or later
- 4. For Dubbo 2.5.x users: Upgrade to version 2.5.11 or later
- 5. Update the version in your Maven/Gradle dependency file (e.g., change dubbo.version from 2.7.6 to 2.7.7)
- 6. Rebuild and redeploy all Dubbo services
- 7. Verify all services start correctly and RPC calls function properly
- 8. Test that the vulnerability is no longer exploitable
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Dubbo
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-1948 — 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-2020-1948 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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