CVE-2020-29478
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 · uneditedCA Service Catalog 17.2 and 17.3 contain a vulnerability in the default configuration of the Setup Utility that may allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service condition.
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 confidenceCA Service Catalog versions 17.2 and 17.3 contain a denial of service vulnerability in the default configuration of the Setup Utility component. A remote attacker can exploit this misconfiguration to cause the service to become unavailable, likely through malformed requests or resource exhaustion targeting the Setup Utility endpoint.
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= 17.2= 17.3CVSS 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 CA Service Catalog versionLocate and inspect the installed CA Service Catalog version. This is typically found in the product's about page, installation directory, or version file. On Windows, check the registry or the install location; on Unix/Linux, check the product directories or use version inquiry commands if available.Affected if The installed version is 17.2 or 17.3.
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Locate the Setup Utility componentIdentify the Setup Utility component within the CA Service Catalog installation. This is typically found in the product's configuration or bin directories, or referenced in configuration files.Affected if The Setup Utility component exists in the installation.
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Verify Setup Utility accessibilityCheck whether the Setup Utility endpoint is accessible over the network. Attempt to access the Setup Utility URL (commonly at /usm/setup or similar paths relative to the service host) without authentication to determine if it responds to unauthenticated requests.Affected if The Setup Utility endpoint responds to unauthenticated requests.
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Review Setup Utility configurationExamine the configuration files for the Setup Utility component. Look for settings that control access authentication, such as parameters allowing anonymous or unauthenticated access, or disabled authentication enforcement.Affected if The configuration allows unauthenticated or anonymous access to the Setup Utility.
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Assess network exposureDetermine whether the Setup Utility is exposed to untrusted networks. Check if the service is bound to all interfaces (0.0.0.0) or is accessible from non-localhost addresses without proper firewall or access restrictions.Affected if The Setup Utility is accessible from remote or untrusted network addresses.
A system is affected if it runs CA Service Catalog version 17.2 or 17.3 with the Setup Utility component exposed and configured to allow unauthenticated remote access.
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 dataReview and modify the default configuration settings of the Setup Utility to disable or restrict unauthenticated access. Apply any vendor-provided patches or upgrades to version 17.3.1 or later if available.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-29478 — 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-2020-29478 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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- 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
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