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Intellij IdeaApplication · Jetbrains

CVE-2020-7914

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2019.3.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
In JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2, an XSLT debugger plugin misconfiguration allows arbitrary file read operations over the network. This issue was fixed in 2019.3.

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 confidence

The XSLT debugger plugin in IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2 has a misconfiguration that allows arbitrary file read operations over the network, likely due to insufficient sandboxing or insecure handling of XSLT transformations. This enables an attacker with network access to read sensitive files from the system where the IDE is running.

MitigationUpgrade IntelliJ IDEA to version 2019.3 or later to obtain the patched XSLT debugger plugin 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
Intellij IdeaApplication
Affected:< 2019.3.0

CVSS 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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check your installed IntelliJ IDEA version
    Open IntelliJ IDEA and navigate to Help > About, or check the application metadata to identify the exact version number
    Affected if The version is 2019.2.x or any version prior to 2019.3.0
  2. Locate the XSLT debugger plugin
    Navigate to Settings > Plugins and look for XSLT support or XSLT debugger-related plugins in the installed plugin list
    Affected if The XSLT debugger plugin is present and enabled in the IDE
  3. Verify XSLT debugging configuration
    Check the XSLT debugger configuration settings under Settings > Languages & Frameworks > XSLT or similar path to see if debugging is configured
    Affected if XSLT debugging is enabled or configured with network access capabilities
  4. Check for listening network ports
    Use system utilities (such as netstat or ss) to identify any ports listening locally that may be associated with the XSLT debugger service
    Affected if A port is open and listening for XSLT debugging connections (typically on localhost)

You are affected if IntelliJ IDEA version is 2019.2.x or earlier AND the XSLT debugger plugin is enabled, as this combination allows the vulnerable misconfiguration to be exploited.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2019.3.0 or later
Fixed in 2019.3.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade IntelliJ IDEA to version 2019.3 or later to obtain the patched XSLT debugger plugin configuration.

Fix this in Intellij Idea Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-7914 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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