CVE-2020-25208
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 · uneditedIn JetBrains YouTrack before 2020.4.4701, an attacker could enumerate users via the REST API without appropriate permissions.
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 confidenceJetBrains YouTrack versions before 202.4.4701 contain an information disclosure vulnerability in the REST API that allows unauthenticated attackers to enumerate valid usernames. The API endpoint does not properly enforce authorization checks, enabling attackers to discover valid user accounts which can facilitate further attacks like brute-force or social engineering.
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< 2020.4.4701CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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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Identify installed YouTrack versionLog into the YouTrack administration interface and navigate to the About page, or check the version displayed in the YouTrack header/tile. Alternatively, access the /api/version or /app/version REST API endpoint without authentication to retrieve version information.Affected if The installed version is earlier than 2020.4.4701 (for example, 2020.3, 2020.2, etc.)
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Confirm REST API is externally accessibleAttempt to access the YouTrack REST API endpoints from an unauthenticated context (incognito/private browser window, or via curl without session cookies). Common endpoints include /api/users or /api/admin/users.Affected if The REST API responds with data rather than requiring authentication (HTTP 200 vs HTTP 401/403)
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Test for username enumerationSend unauthenticated HTTP requests to the REST API user endpoint and observe whether valid usernames can be discovered. In the vulnerable version, the API returns different responses for valid vs invalid usernames, allowing enumeration.Affected if The API reveals whether specific usernames exist (for example, by returning user profile data for valid accounts or different error messages for invalid ones)
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Review API access logs for enumeration patternsExamine YouTrack access logs or audit logs for repeated API requests to user-related endpoints from unauthenticated IP addresses, which may indicate exploitation attempts.Affected if Logs show suspicious patterns of sequential requests to user API endpoints from unauthenticated sources
A user is affected if their YouTrack installation is version earlier than 2020.4.4701 AND the REST API is accessible without authentication, allowing attackers to discover valid usernames.
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 data2020.4.4701
Upgrade YouTrack to version 2020.4.4701 or later which contains the fix for proper REST API authorization. If immediate patching is not possible, consider implementing rate limiting or additional monitoring on API endpoints.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25208 — 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-2020-25208 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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