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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 28 Jan 2025.
Weblogic ServerApplication · Oracle

CVE-2020-2883

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-15
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
In the wild High EPSS 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
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are 10.3.6.0.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0 and 12.2.1.4.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via IIOP, T3 to compromise Oracle WebLogic Server. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle WebLogic Server. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 9.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

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

Critical deserialization vulnerability in Oracle WebLogic Server's Core component exploitable via IIOP and T3 network protocols without authentication, allowing complete server takeover.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update immediately; restrict or disable T3/IIOP network protocols if not required, and limit network access to WebLogic administration ports.

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
Weblogic ServerApplication
Affected:= 10.3.6.0.0= 12.1.3.0.0= 12.2.1.3.0= 12.2.1.4.0

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 WebLogic Server installation path and version
    Locate the WebLogic installation directory (commonly under Oracle/Middleware or Oracle/WebLogic). Check the inventory.xml file or run: java -jar wlserver_*.jar -invptyp -verbose. Alternatively, check the About box in the Administration Console or examine the pom.xml/build files if source is available.
    Affected if The installed version matches exactly 10.3.6.0.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0, or 12.2.1.4.0.
  2. Confirm IIOP protocol is enabled
    Log in to the WebLogic Administration Console. Navigate to the affected server's Configuration > Protocols > IIOP. Check if 'Enable IIOP' is checked. Alternatively, inspect the config.xml file for the server and look for <iiop-enabled>true</iiop-enabled>.
    Affected if IIOP protocol is enabled on the target server.
  3. Confirm T3 protocol is enabled
    Log in to the WebLogic Administration Console. Navigate to the affected server's Configuration > Protocols > T3. Check if 'Enable T3' is checked. Alternatively, inspect the config.xml file for <t3-enabled>true</t3-enabled>.
    Affected if T3 protocol is enabled on the target server.
  4. Verify network exposure of IIOP/T3 ports
    Check which network interfaces and ports the WebLogic server listens on. Default IIOP port is 7001 (or 7002 for SSL). Default T3 port is 7001. Run 'netstat -an | grep 7001' or 'netstat -an | grep 7002' on the server host, or use a port scanner from an external perspective to determine if these ports are accessible from untrusted networks.
    Affected if Ports 7001/7002 (or configured IIOP/T3 ports) are listening on external or untrusted network interfaces.
  5. Review server startup scripts for protocol flags
    Examine the startWebLogic.sh or startWebLogic.cmd scripts in the domain bin directory. Look for command-line arguments such as -Djava.naming.factory.initial=weblogic.jndi.WLInitialContextFactory or any references to IIOP/T3 protocol initialization that might indicate these protocols are being activated at startup.
    Affected if Startup scripts explicitly enable IIOP or T3 protocols.

You are affected if your WebLogic Server version is exactly 10.3.6.0.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0, or 12.2.1.4.0 AND either IIOP or T3 protocol is enabled AND these ports are network-accessible from untrusted sources.

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 Oracle Critical Patch Update immediately; restrict or disable T3/IIOP network protocols if not required, and limit network access to WebLogic administration ports.

Recommended fix High confidence

WebLogic Server 12.2.1.5.0 or later (or apply April 2020 CPU patch for existing versions)

  1. Confirm the current WebLogic Server version by checking the installation directory or using the WebLogic Administration Console
  2. Obtain the latest Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) from Oracle Support for April 2020, which includes the fix for CVE-2020-2883
  3. Download the appropriate patch (one-off patch) for your specific WebLogic version from Oracle Support/My Oracle Support
  4. Apply the patch using the Oracle Smart Update (OPatch) utility: opatch apply <patch_directory>
  5. Restart all WebLogic Server instances and the Administration Server to apply the changes
  6. Alternatively, upgrade to WebLogic Server 12.2.1.5.0 or later which includes the security fixes
  7. Verify the patch was applied successfully by checking the patch inventory: opatch lsinventory
  8. After patching or upgrade, ensure IIOP and T3 protocols are properly secured if not required for business use
Caveat Upgrading to a new minor version may require compatibility testing; some deprecated APIs or features may be removed

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

Fix this in Weblogic Server Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2020-2883 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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