CVE-2020-27196
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 PlayJava in Play Framework 2.6.0 through 2.8.2. The body parsing of HTTP requests eagerly parses a payload given a Content-Type header. A deep JSON structure sent to a valid POST endpoint (that may or may not expect JSON payloads) causes a StackOverflowError and Denial of Service.
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 confidenceThe Play Framework body parser eagerly parses HTTP request payloads based solely on the Content-Type header, without validating whether the endpoint actually expects that content type. When a deeply nested JSON structure is sent to any POST endpoint, the recursive parsing triggers a StackOverflowError, causing denial of service.
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<= 2.6.25>= 2.7.0, <= 2.7.5>= 2.8.0, <= 2.8.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the Play Framework version in useInspect your build configuration files (build.sbt, build.gradle, or pom.xml) for the playframework or play dependency version. Also check the Play console output on startup, which typically displays the framework version.Affected if The installed version is 2.6.x through 2.6.25, 2.7.x through 2.7.5, or 2.8.x through 2.8.2.
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Locate POST endpoints that accept JSON contentReview your conf/routes file and look for POST or PUT routes that specify json as the body parser (e.g., controllers.Application.submit() with anyJson). Also scan controller action methods that explicitly use anyJson, parseJson, or accept the default body parser which auto-parses based on Content-Type.Affected if Any route or action method accepts JSON request bodies without explicit depth or size limits.
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Confirm the body parser auto-parses based on Content-TypeCheck your action definitions for the use of default body parsers like anyContent, anyJson, or no explicit body parser. In Play, when no explicit parser is specified or when using parse.tolerantJson/parse.json, the parser activates purely based on the Content-Type header without validation of endpoint expectations.Affected if Endpoints use anyJson, anyContent, or rely on Play's default Content-Type-based parsing without explicit depth limiting configured.
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Verify whether depth or size limits are configuredInspect your application.conf for play.parsers.json.* settings, specifically look for keys like play.parsers.json.maxDepth or similar limit configurations. Also check if custom body parsers with depth/size restrictions have been implemented in your controllers.Affected if No play.parsers.json.maxDepth or equivalent limit is configured, leaving the default recursive parsing behavior exposed.
Your environment is affected if you run Play Framework version 2.6.x through 2.6.25, 2.7.x through 2.7.5, or 2.8.x through 2.8.2 and have POST endpoints that accept JSON without depth limits configured in the body parser.
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 Play Framework 2.8.3 or later where the vulnerability is patched, or implement body parser size/depth limits and input validation on all POST endpoints to reject excessively nested JSON structures.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27196 — 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-2020-27196 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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