CephApplication · Redhat

CVE-2020-27839

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.2.17 / 15.2.9 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
A flaw was found in ceph-dashboard. The JSON Web Token (JWT) used for user authentication is stored by the frontend application in the browser’s localStorage which is potentially vulnerable to attackers via XSS attacks. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity.

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 · moderate confidence

The ceph-dashboard stores JSON Web Tokens (JWT) in the browser's localStorage for user authentication, which makes them accessible to malicious scripts via XSS attacks. An attacker who can inject JavaScript into the application can steal these tokens and impersonate users, compromising data confidentiality and integrity.

MitigationMigrate JWT storage from localStorage to httpOnly, secure cookies to prevent XSS-based token theft, and implement appropriate CSRF protection mechanisms.

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
CephApplication
Affected:< 14.2.17>= 15.2.0, < 15.2.9

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify if Ceph Dashboard is enabled
    Run 'ceph mgr services' or 'ceph dashboard modules' to confirm the dashboard module is active
    Affected if Dashboard module is listed as enabled in the output
  2. Check installed Ceph version
    Run 'ceph --version' or 'ceph version' to get the exact version number
    Affected if Version is < 14.2.17 OR >= 15.2.0 and < 15.2.9
  3. Identify Dashboard endpoint URL
    Run 'ceph mgr services' to retrieve the dashboard URL (usually https://<host>:8443 or similar)
    Affected if Dashboard URL is accessible, indicating the service is running and potentially affected
  4. Confirm JWT storage mechanism
    Log into the Ceph Dashboard, open browser DevTools (F12), go to Application > Local Storage, and check if a JWT token key exists under the dashboard domain
    Affected if JWT token value is present in localStorage for the dashboard domain (indicates vulnerable storage method)

If Ceph Dashboard is enabled and the installed version falls within < 14.2.17 or >= 15.2.0 to < 15.2.9, and JWT tokens are found in browser localStorage, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 14.2.17 / 15.2.9 or later
Fixed in 14.2.1715.2.9
Interim mitigation

Migrate JWT storage from localStorage to httpOnly, secure cookies to prevent XSS-based token theft, and implement appropriate CSRF protection mechanisms.

Fix this in Ceph Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,400
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,040.

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-2020-27839 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