CVE-2020-7955
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 · uneditedHashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise 1.4.1 through 1.6.2 did not uniformly enforce ACLs across all API endpoints, resulting in potential unintended information disclosure. Fixed in 1.6.3.
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 · high confidenceHashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise versions 1.4.1 through 1.6.2 did not uniformly enforce Access Control Lists (ACLs) across all API endpoints, resulting in potential unintended information disclosure where certain endpoints may have leaked sensitive data to unauthorized users.
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>= 1.4.1, < 1.6.2CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed Consul versionRun `consul --version` or check the Consul process/version file. Compare the version number to the affected range: >= 1.4.1 and < 1.6.2Affected if The installed version falls within 1.4.1 to 1.6.2 inclusive
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Verify ACL system is enabledCheck the Consul configuration file (default /etc/consul/consul.json) for the `acl` block and its `enabled` setting, or query the `/v1/agent/self` API endpoint and look for acl configurationAffected if ACLs are enabled (the vulnerability concerns incomplete ACL enforcement across endpoints)
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Confirm ACL enforcement gaps existReview the Consul API endpoints being used in the environment. The vulnerability allowed certain endpoints to return data even when ACL policies should have denied access. Test endpoints with low-privilege or no token to see if sensitive data leaksAffected if Unauthenticated or low-privilege API requests return sensitive data that should be restricted by ACL policies
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Check for default ACL token usageReview any scripts, applications, or configurations that use Consul tokens. Look for the presence of the anonymous (empty) token or tokens with overly permissive rules in the ACL policy definitionsAffected if Applications rely on default tokens or policies that may have been inadvertently permissive due to the ACL bypass
You are affected if Consul version is between 1.4.1 and 1.6.2 inclusive AND ACLs are enabled, as certain endpoints may have leaked sensitive data to unauthorized users despite ACL policies.
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 data1.6.2
Upgrade Consul to version 1.6.3 or later where ACL enforcement is uniformly applied across all API endpoints.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7955 — 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-2020-7955 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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