CVE-2020-5411
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 · uneditedWhen configured to enable default typing, Jackson contained a deserialization vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution. Jackson fixed this vulnerability by blacklisting known "deserialization gadgets". Spring Batch configures Jackson with global default typing enabled which means that through the previous exploit, arbitrary code could be executed if all of the following is true: * Spring Batch's Jackson support is being leveraged to serialize a job's ExecutionContext. * A malicious user gains write access to the data store used by the JobRepository (where the data to be deserialized is stored). In order to protect against this type of attack, Jackson prevents a set of untrusted gadget classes from being deserialized. Spring Batch should be proactive against blocking unknown "deserialization gadgets" when enabling default typing.
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 confidenceJackson deserialization vulnerability in Spring Batch when default typing is enabled allows arbitrary code execution via malicious gadget classes. The attack requires write access to the JobRepository data store where serialized ExecutionContext data is stored. Spring Batch must proactively block unknown deserialization gadgets in its Jackson configuration.
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>= 4.0.0, <= 4.0.4>= 4.1.0, <= 4.1.4>= 4.2.0, <= 4.2.2CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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.
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Identify Spring Batch versionInspect your project's dependency management (pom.xml, build.gradle) or the spring-batch-core JAR manifest for the version numberAffected if The version falls within 4.0.0-4.0.4, 4.1.0-4.1.4, or 4.2.0-4.2.2
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Locate Jackson ObjectMapper configurationSearch for ObjectMapper bean definitions or Jackson configuration classes in your codebase, typically in @Bean methods returning ObjectMapper or @Configuration classes with @EnableJacksonFormat or similar annotationsAffected if An ObjectMapper bean is defined with default typing enabled
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Verify default typing is enabledLook for calls to enableDefaultTyping(), enableDefaultTypingAsProperty(), or enableDefaultTypingAsRootValue() on the ObjectMapper, or check for the Jackson annotation @JsonTypeInfo at the class levelAffected if Default typing is explicitly enabled (lines containing enableDefaultTyping or @JsonTypeInfo with DEFAULT_MIXIN)
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 dataUpdate Spring Batch to use updated Jackson libraries with expanded gadget blacklisting, or disable default typing and use explicit type information in JSON serialization for JobRepository.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5411 — 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-2020-5411 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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