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Couchbase ServerApplication · Couchbase

CVE-2020-24719

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.0 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
Exposed Erlang Cookie could lead to Remote Command Execution (RCE) attack. Communication between Erlang nodes is done by exchanging a shared secret (aka "magic cookie"). There are cases where the magic cookie is included in the content of the logs. An attacker can use the cookie to attach to an Erlang node and run OS level commands on the system running the Erlang node. Affects version: 6.5.1. Fix version: 6.6.0.

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 confidence

Erlang magic cookies used for inter-node authentication are being logged in plaintext. An attacker who obtains these cookies can attach to the Erlang node and execute OS-level commands, achieving remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to version 6.6.0 or later, and audit log configurations to ensure Erlang cookies are not being written to any log files.

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
Couchbase ServerApplication
Affected:>= 6.5.1, < 6.6.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Couchbase Server version
    Use the Couchbase command-line tools or check the product version through the admin interface to determine the exact installed version
    Affected if The installed version is >= 6.5.1 and < 6.6.0
  2. Confirm version falls within vulnerable range
    Compare your installed version against the affected range: versions 6.5.1 through 6.5.x (prior to 6.6.0)
    Affected if The version is >= 6.5.1 and < 6.6.0
  3. Locate Erlang cookie patterns in log files
    Search Couchbase log directories for plaintext strings matching Erlang cookie format (typically short alphanumeric sequences beginning with '-setcookie' or appearing as standalone values in log entries)
    Affected if Any log files contain plaintext Erlang magic cookie values
  4. Review Erlang node communication logs
    Inspect logs related to Erlang distributed node communications and inter-node authentication for any cookie disclosures
    Affected if Logs show cookie values or authentication parameters being written to disk

You are affected if Couchbase Server version is 6.5.1 or higher but below 6.6.0 AND Erlang cookies are present in any log files accessible to your environment.

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 6.6.0 or later
Fixed in 6.6.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to version 6.6.0 or later, and audit log configurations to ensure Erlang cookies are not being written to any log files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Couchbase Server 6.6.0

  1. Backup all Couchbase Server data and cluster configuration before initiating the upgrade
  2. Review Couchbase Server 6.6.0 release notes and upgrade documentation for any pre-upgrade requirements
  3. Ensure the target environment meets the system requirements for version 6.6.0
  4. Download Couchbase Server version 6.6.0 from the official Couchbase download portal
  5. Perform a rolling upgrade or offline upgrade following Couchbase's standard upgrade procedure
  6. After upgrade, verify the Erlang magic cookie is no longer exposed in log files
  7. Confirm the Couchbase cluster is functioning properly and all services are operational
Caveat Review 6.6.0 release notes for any breaking changes or deprecation notices specific to your configuration

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

Fix this in Couchbase Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2020-24719 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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