CVE-2020-7904
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 · uneditedIn JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA before 2019.3, some Maven repositories were accessed via HTTP instead of HTTPS.
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 confidenceIntelliJ IDEA versions prior to 2019.3 were configured to fetch Maven dependencies from repositories using unencrypted HTTP connections instead of secure HTTPS. This allows man-in-the-middle attackers to intercept and potentially inject malicious code into downloaded dependencies, compromising the software supply chain.
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< 2019.3.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed IntelliJ IDEA versionOpen IntelliJ IDEA and go to Help > About, or check the application metadata in your installation directoryAffected if The version shown is earlier than 2019.3.0 (for example, 2019.2.x, 2019.1.x, etc.)
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Locate Maven settings configurationMaven settings are typically in ~/.m2/settings.xml for user-level config, or in the project root for project-level configAffected if The file exists and contains repository URLs using the http:// protocol rather than https://
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Inspect IDE repository configurationsIn IntelliJ IDEA, check Settings > Build, Execution, Deployment > Maven > Repositories to see configured repository URLsAffected if Any repository URL starts with http:// instead of https://
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Check project pom.xml filesReview any pom.xml files in your projects for <repository> declarationsAffected if Repository URLs within <url> tags use http:// rather than https://
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Verify runtime dependency sourcesDuring Maven dependency resolution, observe the download URLs shown in the Build output or Maven tool windowAffected if Dependencies are being downloaded from URLs beginning with http://
You are affected if your IntelliJ IDEA version is older than 2019.3.0 AND any Maven repository configuration (in settings.xml, IDE settings, or pom.xml) uses unencrypted HTTP URLs.
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 data2019.3.0
Update IntelliJ IDEA to version 2019.3 or later, which enforces HTTPS for Maven repository connections. Additionally, verify that Maven settings do not contain hardcoded HTTP repository URLs.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7904 — 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-2020-7904 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
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