JenkinsApplication
CVE-2020-2221
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 · uneditedJenkins 2.244 and earlier, LTS 2.235.1 and earlier does not escape the upstream job's display name shown as part of a build cause, resulting in a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability.
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 confidenceJenkins fails to escape the upstream job's display name when displayed as part of a build cause, allowing a stored XSS payload injected into an upstream job's display name to execute in the context of the downstream job's view. This is a stored XSS vulnerability affecting the build cause display.
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
JenkinsApplication
<= 2.235.1<= 2.244CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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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Check your Jenkins versionNavigate to 'Manage Jenkins' > 'System Information' or check the footer of any Jenkins page to find the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is 2.235.1 or earlier, or 2.244 or earlier (but not 2.235.2+/2.244.1+)
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Identify upstream/downstream job relationshipsGo to a downstream job > 'Configuration' > look for 'Build Triggers' section with 'Build after other projects are built' entries, or use the 'Pipeline Dependencies' view if availableAffected if Downstream jobs are configured to trigger based on upstream job completions
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Review custom display names on jobsGo to each job with upstream trigger relationships > 'Configuration' > check if 'Display Name' field (under 'Advanced Project Options') contains any HTML or special charactersAffected if Any upstream job in a trigger relationship has a custom display name set with special characters
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Inspect the build cause display in downstream buildsStart a downstream build > click on the build number > look for 'Caused by:' section in the build information; check if the upstream job name is rendered with custom display name formattingAffected if The upstream job's custom display name appears in the build cause section without proper HTML escaping
You are affected if your Jenkins version is within the affected range AND you have upstream/downstream job relationships where the upstream job uses a custom display name with special characters, which would render as executable XSS in the downstream build cause view.
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 dataUpgrade to Jenkins 2.244.1 or LTS 2.235.2 or later, which properly escape the upstream job display name. Alternatively, avoid using display names with special characters in upstream jobs.
Fix this in Jenkins
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-2221 — 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-2020-2221 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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