CVE-2020-6186
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 · uneditedSAP Host Agent, version 7.21, allows an attacker to cause a slowdown in processing of username/password-based authentication requests of the SAP Host Agent, leading to Denial of Service.
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 confidenceSAP Host Agent version 7.21 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a slowdown in the processing of username/password-based authentication requests. By sending repeated or malformed authentication requests, an attacker can exhaust resources or cause sufficient delay to render the service effectively unavailable, leading to 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= 7.21CVSS 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 if SAP Host Agent is installed and runningRun command 'sapcontrol -nr <instance> -function GetSystemInstanceList' or check for running hostctrl processes using 'ps -ef | grep hostctrl'Affected if SAP Host Agent is not installed or not running, then not affected by this CVE
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Determine the SAP Host Agent versionExecute 'sapcontrol -nr <instance> -function GetVersion' or check the version file in the SAP Host Agent installation directory (typically under /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe or similar)Affected if Version is exactly 7.21 - this is the only affected version for this CVE
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Verify username/password-based authentication is enabledReview SAP Host Agent configuration files and authentication settings, typically found in host profile or configuration directories under the SAP Host Agent installation pathAffected if Authentication is enabled and the version is 7.21, making the DoS condition applicable
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Check for signs of authentication-related resource exhaustionReview SAP Host Agent logs (typically in /usr/sap/hostctrl/log/ or equivalent) for repeated failed authentication attempts, slow response times, or authentication timeoutsAffected if Logs show authentication delays or resource exhaustion patterns combined with version 7.21
A system is affected if SAP Host Agent version 7.21 is installed with username/password authentication enabled, as this specific version is the only one listed as vulnerable to the authentication DoS flaw.
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 dataApply the appropriate SAP security patch for CVE-2020-6186 to update SAP Host Agent to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, consider network segmentation or access controls to limit exposure to untrusted networks.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6186 — 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-2020-6186 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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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
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