dbcve.org
Couchbase ServerApplication · Couchbase

CVE-2020-9039

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-02-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.6.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Couchbase Server 4.0.0, 4.1.0, 4.1.1, 4.5.0, 4.5.1, 4.6.0 through 4.6.5, 5.0.0, 5.1.1, 5.5.0 and 5.5.1 have Insecure Permissions for the projector and indexer REST endpoints (they allow unauthenticated access).The /settings REST endpoint exposed by the projector process is an endpoint that administrators can use for various tasks such as updating configuration and collecting performance profiles. The endpoint was unauthenticated and has been updated to only allow authenticated users to access these administrative APIs.

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 confidence

The projector and indexer REST endpoints in Couchbase Server allowed unauthenticated access, enabling remote attackers to access the /settings endpoint for modifying configuration and collecting performance profiles without any authentication. This authentication bypass affects multiple major versions and is rated critical due to the administrative nature of the exposed APIs.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Couchbase Server that enforces authentication on the projector and indexer REST endpoints, or apply vendor-supplied patches if available for the affected versions.

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
Couchbase ServerApplication
Affected:>= 4.6.0, <= 4.6.5= 4.0.0= 4.1.0= 4.1.1= 4.5.0= 4.5.1= 5.0.0= 5.1.1= 5.5.0= 5.5.1

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
High
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Identify Couchbase Server version
    Run 'couchbase-cli server-info -c localhost -u <admin> -p <password>' or check the Couchbase Web Console under Settings > About to determine the installed version number
    Affected if The installed version matches one of: 4.0.0, 4.1.0, 4.1.1, 4.5.0, 4.5.1, any version 4.6.0 through 4.6.5, 5.0.0, 5.1.1, 5.5.0, or 5.5.1
  2. Test projector endpoint unauthenticated access
    Send an HTTP GET request to http://<server>:8092/settings without providing any authentication credentials
    Affected if The request returns an HTTP 200 response with configuration data instead of a 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden error
  3. Test indexer endpoint unauthenticated access
    Send an HTTP GET request to http://<server>:8091/settings without providing any authentication credentials
    Affected if The request returns an HTTP 200 response with configuration data instead of a 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden error
  4. Verify authentication is required for REST APIs
    Attempt to access the Couchbase REST API endpoints at ports 8091 (indexer) and 8092 (projector) using curl or a similar tool with no credentials, and observe the response
    Affected if Any administrative or configuration endpoint responds with 200 OK and exposes data without requiring authentication

If the Couchbase Server version falls within the affected list and any of the projector (port 8092) or indexer (port 8091) REST endpoints are accessible without authentication, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2020-9039.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.6.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Couchbase Server that enforces authentication on the projector and indexer REST endpoints, or apply vendor-supplied patches if available for the affected versions.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Couchbase Server 6.0.0 or later (latest stable 6.x/7.x release)

  1. Identify your current Couchbase Server version using the Couchbase Web Console or cbversion utility
  2. Plan for upgrade following Couchbase upgrade documentation (https://docs.couchbase.com/)
  3. Back up all cluster data and configuration before initiating upgrade
  4. For production environments, perform a rolling upgrade to maintain availability
  5. Ensure the target version is compatible with your existing applications and scripts that interact with REST endpoints
  6. After upgrade, verify that the projector and indexer REST endpoints now require authentication
Caveat Review release notes for potential breaking changes between your current version and target version; REST API clients may need updates if they relied on unauthenticated access

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Couchbase Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,480.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9039 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-9039 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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