CVE-2020-25864
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 · uneditedHashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise up to version 1.9.4 key-value (KV) raw mode was vulnerable to cross-site scripting. Fixed in 1.9.5, 1.8.10 and 1.7.14.
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 confidenceHashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise versions up to 1.9.4 contained a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Key-Value (KV) raw mode feature of the web interface. The raw mode display failed to properly sanitize KV content before rendering, allowing injected malicious scripts to execute in the context of other users viewing the KV data.
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< 1.7.14>= 1.8.0, < 1.8.10>= 1.9.0, < 1.9.5CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 Consul versionRun `consul version` or query the API at `http://<consul-server>:8500/v1/status/leader` and inspect the response for version informationAffected if The installed version is less than 1.7.14, OR between 1.8.0 and 1.8.9 inclusive, OR between 1.9.0 and 1.9.4 inclusive
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Verify web UI is enabledCheck Consul configuration file (usually /etc/consul.d/consul.hcl or .json) for `ui_config` or `ui` setting, or attempt to access http://<consul-server>:8500/ui/Affected if The web UI is enabled and accessible on the default port 8500
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Confirm KV raw mode is accessibleNavigate to the Consul web UI, go to the Key-Value section, select any KV entry, and append `?raw=true` to the URL or look for a 'Raw' button to view raw contentAffected if The raw mode feature is available and displays KV data without proper sanitization
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Inspect KV entries for potential XSS payloadsList all KV keys via `consul kv -recurse` or the API at `/v1/kv/?recurse=true` and examine the values for script tags or HTML content that could indicate prior exploitationAffected if KV values contain unsanitized script tags, event handlers, or other XSS vectors that would execute when viewed in raw mode
You are affected if running a Consul version within the vulnerable ranges AND the web UI with KV raw mode feature is 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 data1.7.141.8.101.9.5
Upgrade Consul to version 1.9.5, 1.8.10, 1.7.14 or later to patch the XSS vulnerability in the KV raw mode. After upgrading, verify that KV entries render safely in raw mode.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25864 — 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-2020-25864 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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