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Api ManagerApplication · Wso2

CVE-2020-24590

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The Management Console in WSO2 API Manager through 3.1.0 and API Microgateway 2.2.0 allows XML Entity Expansion attacks.

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

The Management Console in WSO2 API Manager through 3.1.0 and API Microgateway 2.2.0 is vulnerable to XML Entity Expansion attacks (XXE). This allows an attacker to inject malicious XML containing external entity references, potentially leading to denial of service, disclosure of local files, or server-side request forgery.

MitigationDisable external entity processing in XML parsers within the Management Console and update to patched versions when available. Input validation and use of safer XML parsers with entity expansion disabled are recommended.

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
Api ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 3.1.0
Api MicrogatewayApplication
Affected:= 2.2.0

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 WSO2 product and version
    Locate the product's version file or check the Management Console About page. For API Manager, check <install_dir>/modules/utils/wso2-utils.sh or the runtime version displayed in the console. For Microgateway, check the product distribution metadata or startup logs.
    Affected if The product is WSO2 API Manager version 3.1.0 or lower, or WSO2 API Microgateway version 2.2.0 exactly.
  2. Confirm Management Console is enabled
    Verify the Management Console application is deployed and accessible. Check for the /management/console endpoint or look for the carbon application (carbon#.war) in the <install_dir>/repository/deployment/server/webapps directory.
    Affected if The Management Console is deployed and reachable on the server.
  3. Check XML parser configuration
    Examine the XML parser settings in the server configuration. Look for doctype-public and doctype-system declarations being processed. Check the lib/xmlparserv2.jar or similar XML parser libraries in use. Inspect axis2.xml, carbon.xml, or related configuration files for external entity processing settings.
    Affected if XML parsers are configured to process external entities or DTDs without disabling entity expansion.
  4. Verify console input handling
    Review whether the Management Console accepts XML-based input. Test submitting an XML payload with an external entity reference to a console API endpoint that accepts XML (such as WSDL imports, policy uploads, or API definition imports).
    Affected if The console accepts XML input without sanitization and processes external entity declarations.

A user is affected if they run WSO2 API Manager 3.1.0 or earlier, or API Microgateway 2.2.0, with the Management Console exposed and XML parsers configured to allow external entity processing.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.1.0
Interim mitigation

Disable external entity processing in XML parsers within the Management Console and update to patched versions when available. Input validation and use of safer XML parsers with entity expansion disabled are recommended.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

WSO2 API Manager 3.2.0+ | WSO2 API Microgateway 2.2.1+

  1. 1. Backup your current WSO2 API Manager configuration and data
  2. 2. Download WSO2 API Manager 3.2.0 or later from the official WSO2 repository
  3. 3. Stop the running WSO2 API Manager 3.1.0 instance
  4. 4. For API Microgateway, upgrade to version 2.2.1 or later which contains the security fix
  5. 5. Deploy the new version and restore your configuration
  6. 6. Test the Management Console functionality to verify the XML Entity Expansion vulnerability is remediated
Caveat Review release notes for any migration requirements between 3.1.0 and 3.2.0, particularly database schema changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Api Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2020-24590 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data