CVE-2020-28864
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in WinSCP 5.17.8 allows a malicious FTP server to cause a denial of service or possibly have other unspecified impact via a long file name.
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 confidenceWinSCP 5.17.8 contains a buffer overflow vulnerability when processing file names received from an FTP server. A malicious server can send an excessively long file name to overflow a buffer, causing denial of service or potentially achieving code execution on the client machine.
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= 5.17.8CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check installed WinSCP versionOpen WinSCP, go to Help > About, or right-click the WinSCP.exe file and select Properties > Details to view the version numberAffected if The installed version is exactly 5.17.8
-
Confirm FTP protocol usageReview saved sessions in WinSCP Manager or check connection logs for sessions using FTP protocol (as opposed to SFTP or SCP)Affected if You connect to FTP servers using the FTP protocol in WinSCP
-
Check for crash or异常 behavior logsLook in %APPDATA%\WinSCP\Logs for recent log files showing unexpected crashes or error messages related to file name processingAffected if Crashes or buffer overflow errors occur when receiving directory listings from FTP servers
-
Review recent FTP server connectionsExamine WinSCP session logs or connection history for connections to untrusted or unknown FTP serversAffected if Connections to untrusted FTP servers have been established using the affected WinSCP version
You are affected if WinSCP version 5.17.8 is installed AND you use it to connect to FTP servers.
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 dataOnly connect to trusted FTP servers and update WinSCP to the latest patched version. Users should avoid connecting to untrusted FTP sites until the vulnerability is remediated.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-28864 — 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-2020-28864 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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