CVE-2020-5423
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 · uneditedCAPI (Cloud Controller) versions prior to 1.101.0 are vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack in which an unauthenticated malicious attacker can send specially-crafted YAML files to certain endpoints, causing the YAML parser to consume excessive CPU and RAM.
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 confidenceCAPI (Cloud Controller) prior to version 1.101.0 contains a YAML parser vulnerability where specially-crafted YAML files sent to certain endpoints trigger excessive resource consumption (CPU and RAM), allowing unauthenticated attackers to cause denial of service.
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< 1.101.0< 15.0.0CVSS 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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Check CAPI Release versionRun 'bosh releases | grep capi' or check the deployed version of the cloudfoundry/capi-release BOSH releaseAffected if The CAPI Release version is below 1.101.0
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Check CF Deployment versionRun 'bosh deployments | grep cf-deployment' or check the cf-deployment version file in your deployment manifestAffected if The CF Deployment version is below 15.0.0
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Identify Cloud Controller API endpointsInspect the Cloud Controller API (CAPI) service configuration and determine which endpoints accept YAML payload. These typically include service broker registration, buildpack upload, or staging manifests.Affected if Endpoints that parse YAML are publicly accessible without authentication
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Verify CAPI componentsCheck the running CAPI components: 'bosh tasks --recent' or inspect the cloud_controller_ng process version. Review the capi-release deployment manifests for the cloud_controller_ng package version.Affected if The cloud_controller_ng package version corresponds to a CAPI release below 1.101.0
You are affected if your deployed CAPI Release is below version 1.101.0 or your CF Deployment is below version 15.0.0, and your Cloud Controller API endpoints that parse YAML are accessible to unauthenticated users.
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 data1.101.015.0.0
Upgrade CAPI to version 1.101.0 or later to patch the YAML parser vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5423 — 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-2020-5423 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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