CVE-2020-5226
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 · uneditedCross-site scripting in SimpleSAMLphp before version 1.18.4. The www/erroreport.php script allows error reports to be submitted and sent to the system administrator. Starting with SimpleSAMLphp 1.18.0, a new SimpleSAML\Utils\EMail class was introduced to handle sending emails, implemented as a wrapper of an external dependency. This new wrapper allows us to use Twig templates in order to create the email sent with an error report. Since Twig provides automatic escaping of variables, manual escaping of the free-text field in www/errorreport.php was removed to avoid double escaping. However, for those not using the new user interface yet, an email template is hardcoded into the class itself in plain PHP. Since no escaping is provided in this template, it is then possible to inject HTML inside the template by manually crafting the contents of the free-text field.
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 confidenceCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in SimpleSAMLphp's error reporting feature (www/erroreport.php). Starting with version 1.18.0, the new EMail class uses Twig templates with automatic escaping for new UI users, but uses a hardcoded PHP template without escaping for legacy users. This allows attackers to inject HTML/JavaScript via the free-text error report field that executes when administrators view the email.
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< 1.18.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify SimpleSAMLphp versionLocate the version.php file in your SimpleSAMLphp installation directory and read the $version variable, or check the version field in composer.json if presentAffected if The installed version is below 1.18.4
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Verify erroreport.php existsConfirm that the file www/erroreport.php exists in your SimpleSAMLphp web root directoryAffected if The file exists and is web-accessible, enabling the attack surface
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Check EMail class for legacy template usageInspect the EMail class source code (typically in lib/SimpleSAML/Email.php) and look for hardcoded PHP templates or references to legacy email formatting without escapingAffected if The code uses a hardcoded PHP template instead of Twig templates with automatic escaping for error reports
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Confirm error reporting feature is enabledCheck the SimpleSAMLphp configuration (config.php) for enable.rememberMe and email.recipient settings that allow error reports to be submitted and storedAffected if The error reporting feature is enabled and accepts user-submitted free-text content
Your environment is affected if SimpleSAMLphp version is below 1.18.4 AND the www/erroreport.php file is accessible AND your EMail class implementation uses legacy templates without escaping for error reports.
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 data1.18.4
Upgrade to SimpleSAMLphp version 1.18.4 or later, which adds proper escaping to the hardcoded email template.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5226 — 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-2020-5226 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data