CVE-2020-8859
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to create a denial-of-service condition on affected installations of ELOG Electronic Logbook 3.1.4-283534d. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the processing of HTTP parameters. A crafted request can trigger the dereference of a null pointer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to create a denial-of-service condition. Was ZDI-CAN-10115.
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 confidenceThis is a null pointer dereference vulnerability in ELOG Electronic Logbook 3.1.4-283534d. The flaw exists in the HTTP parameter processing logic where a specially crafted request can cause the application to dereference a null pointer, resulting in a denial-of-service condition. The vulnerability can be exploited without authentication.
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= 3.1.4-283534dCVSS 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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Confirm ELOG installation and versionLocate the ELOG binary or installation directory. Check for a version identifier file, or run 'elog --version' or check the application startup logs for the version string '3.1.4-283534d'.Affected if The installed version is exactly 3.1.4-283534d, as this is the only version listed as affected.
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Verify HTTP interface is enabledExamine the ELOG configuration file (commonly 'elogd.cfg' or 'elog.cfg' in the ELOG directory or /etc). Look for HTTP-related settings such as 'port', 'http', or similar parameters that enable the web server functionality.Affected if HTTP parameter processing is active, which is required for the null pointer dereference to occur via specially crafted HTTP requests.
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Check network exposure of the ELOG HTTP serviceReview firewall rules, service binding configuration, or network access controls. Verify which interfaces and ports the ELOG HTTP service is listening on (commonly port 8080 or 80).Affected if The ELOG HTTP port is accessible from network segments where untrusted users could send malicious HTTP requests.
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Inspect HTTP request handling logsReview ELOG access and error logs for patterns of malformed HTTP parameter requests that may have triggered null pointer dereferences, or look for crash/restart events coinciding with HTTP activity.Affected if Log entries indicate the service has crashed, restarted unexpectedly, or logged errors related to HTTP parameter processing.
You are affected if ELOG version 3.1.4-283534d is installed with its HTTP interface enabled and accessible, as the null pointer dereference can be triggered by unauthenticated HTTP requests.
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 any available vendor patch for ELOG Electronic Logbook. If no patch exists, consider restricting network access to the ELOG service or implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to filter malformed HTTP parameter requests until a fix is available.
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- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8859 — 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-2020-8859 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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