Netweaver Application Server JavaApplication · Sap

CVE-2020-26829

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA (P2P Cluster Communication), versions - 7.11, 7.20, 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, 7.50, allows arbitrary connections from processes because of missing authentication check, that are outside the cluster and even outside the network segment dedicated for the internal cluster communication. As result, an unauthenticated attacker can invoke certain functions that would otherwise be restricted to system administrators only, including access to system administration functions or shutting down the system completely.

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

Missing authentication check in SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA P2P cluster communication allows any external process to connect without credentials. An unauthenticated attacker can invoke privileged administrative functions including system shutdown, achieving full system compromise.

MitigationApply SAP security patches/notes for CVE-2020-26829 to implement proper authentication for cluster communications; restrict network access to cluster communication segments as defense-in-depth.

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
Netweaver Application Server JavaApplication
Affected:= 7.11= 7.20= 7.30= 7.31= 7.40= 7.50

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 SAP NetWeaver AS Java installation
    Check for SAP Java processes running on the system using commands like 'ps -ef | grep -i sap' or look for SAP installation directories under /usr/sap or /sapmnt
    Affected if SAP NetWeaver AS Java is not installed, the system is not affected by this CVE
  2. Determine the SAP NetWeaver AS Java version
    Check the SAP JVM version by running 'java -version' from the SAP Java home, or query the SAP system via transaction SM51 or by inspecting version files in the SAP installation directory (e.g., the installation manifest or release information file)
    Affected if The installed version matches 7.11, 7.20, 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, or 7.50 exactly (note: these are exact version matches indicated by '=' in the advisory)
  3. Verify P2P cluster communication is enabled
    Check the SAP cluster configuration for P2P (peer-to-peer) communication settings. This may be in the SAP cluster configuration files, the SAP NetWeaver Administrator (NWA) console under cluster settings, or via transaction DBACOCKPIT/cluster management interfaces
    Affected if P2P cluster communication is enabled and configured - this is the vulnerable component; if P2P clustering is not used, the attack surface may be reduced but the missing authentication may still exist in the code path
  4. Assess network exposure of cluster communication ports
    Review firewall rules and network configuration to determine if cluster communication ports (typically SAP internal cluster ports) are accessible from untrusted networks or external IP addresses. Use 'netstat -an | grep <port>' or firewall-cmd/iptables to list open ports and their binding addresses
    Affected if Cluster communication ports are exposed to untrusted networks or accessible without authentication from external systems - this enables the unauthenticated attacker to reach the vulnerable interface

A system is affected if it runs SAP NetWeaver AS Java version 7.11, 7.20, 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, or 7.50 with P2P cluster communication enabled and the cluster ports are network-accessible to untrusted attackers.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply SAP security patches/notes for CVE-2020-26829 to implement proper authentication for cluster communications; restrict network access to cluster communication segments as defense-in-depth.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Apply the relevant SAP Security Note patch for NetWeaver AS Java 7.11, 7.20, 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, 7.50

  1. Locate the relevant SAP Security Note for CVE-2020-26829 (search SAP Support Portal for '2962227' or 'CVE-2020-26829')
  2. Download and apply the specified SAP Security Note through SAP Sum (SAP Update Manager) or manually apply the patch
  3. After patch application, verify that the P2P cluster communication now requires proper authentication
  4. If available, apply any additional prerequisite notes required by the security patch
  5. Restart affected Java cluster nodes as instructed by the patch documentation
  6. Verify the fix by confirming that unauthorized P2P connections are rejected
Caveat Patches may require downtime for Java cluster node restarts; test in non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Netweaver Application Server Java Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2020-26829 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