Collaborate UltraApplication · Blackboard

CVE-2020-25902

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra 20.02 is affected by a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. The XSS payload will execute on the class room, which leads to stealing cookies from users who join the class. NOTE: Third-parties dispute the validity of this entry as a possible false positive during research

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 · low confidence

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra 20.02 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability where malicious payloads execute within the classroom context, enabling attackers to steal user cookies and potentially hijack sessions. The CVSS 6.1 suggests a relatively straightforward XSS attack requiring some user interaction.

MitigationSince this is a third-party SaaS platform, organizations should report the issue to Blackboard and monitor for vendor patches; implement Content Security Policy headers as a defense-in-depth measure while awaiting remediation.

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
Collaborate UltraApplication
Affected:= 20.02

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra version
    Log into your Blackboard Collaborate Ultra portal and navigate to the Settings or About section, typically found under the profile menu or in the browser-based classroom interface. Look for a version number displayed in the application footer or in the session information panel.
    Affected if The displayed version is exactly 20.02 (no other versions are listed as affected by this CVE).
  2. Check browser developer tools for version metadata
    Open your browser's developer tools (F12), go to the Network tab, and load the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra session page. Inspect the initial page load response or any JavaScript files for a version string that may be hardcoded in the client-side code.
    Affected if The version string in the response matches 20.02 specifically.
  3. Review integration or admin configuration
    If your organization uses Blackboard Learn integration or an admin panel to launch Collaborate Ultra sessions, check any configuration pages that display the Collaborate product version. This may be found in the course management area or integration settings.
    Affected if The configured Collaborate version is listed as 20.02.

Your environment is affected only if the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra version in use is exactly 20.02, as this is the sole version listed as vulnerable to this XSS flaw.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Since this is a third-party SaaS platform, organizations should report the issue to Blackboard and monitor for vendor patches; implement Content Security Policy headers as a defense-in-depth measure while awaiting remediation.

Fix this in Collaborate Ultra Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $880
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-25902 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