CVE-2020-25258
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Hyland OnBase 16.0.2.83 and below, 17.0.2.109 and below, 18.0.0.37 and below, 19.8.16.1000 and below and 20.3.10.1000 and below. It uses ASP.NET BinaryFormatter.Deserialize in a manner that allows attackers to transmit and execute bytecode in SOAP messages.
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 confidenceHyland OnBase uses ASP.NET BinaryFormatter.Deserialize to process SOAP messages, which allows remote attackers to send malicious serialized objects that get instantiated during deserialization, leading to remote code execution. BinaryFormatter is a well-known dangerous deserialization method in .NET that can execute arbitrary code embedded in the serialized payload.
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<= 16.0.2.83>= 17.0.0.0, <= 17.0.2.109>= 18.0.0.0, <= 18.0.0.37>= 19.0.0.0, <= 19.8.16.1000>= 20.0.0.0, <= 20.3.10.1000CVSS 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 OnBase versionLocate the OnBase installation and retrieve the version number from the product itself, typically found in the application properties, about dialog, or installation directoryAffected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: <= 16.0.2.83; >= 17.0.0.0 and <= 17.0.2.109; >= 18.0.0.0 and <= 18.0.0.37; >= 19.0.0.0 and <= 19.8.16.1000; >= 20.0.0.0 and <= 20.3.10.1000
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Confirm SOAP endpoint is exposedCheck if OnBase SOAP web services are accessible on the network. Verify the SOAP endpoint URL is reachable and the service is listed as availableAffected if SOAP endpoints are externally accessible or enabled in the OnBase web configuration without restriction
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Inspect web configuration for BinaryFormatterExamine the ASP.NET configuration files (web.config) for the SOAP service implementation to see if BinaryFormatter.Deserialize is configured or used in the serialization settingsAffected if BinaryFormatter is enabled or configured in the OnBase web configuration for processing SOAP messages
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Check application logs for BinaryFormatter errorsReview OnBase application and IIS logs for any BinaryFormatter-related exceptions or warnings that indicate the vulnerable deserialization method is being invokedAffected if Logs show BinaryFormatter.Deserialize calls or related deserialization activity on SOAP endpoints
You are affected if your OnBase version is within any of the listed affected ranges AND SOAP services with BinaryFormatter deserialization are enabled and accessible.
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 a patched version of OnBase that removes BinaryFormatter.Deserialize usage, or implement input validation and replace BinaryFormatter with safe serialization alternatives (such as System.Text.Json or XmlSerializer).
- Consultation12.0 h
- Implementation32.0 h
- Testing20.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25258 — 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-2020-25258 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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