Couchbase ServerApplication · Couchbase

CVE-2020-9041

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.7.0 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 Couchbase Server 6.0.3 and Couchbase Sync Gateway through 2.7.0, the Cluster management, views, query, and full-text search endpoints are vulnerable to the Slowloris denial-of-service attack because they don't more aggressively terminate slow connections.

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

Couchbase Server 6.0.3 and Sync Gateway through 2.7.0 are vulnerable to Slowloris DoS attacks on cluster management, views, query, and full-text search endpoints. The affected endpoints fail to aggressively terminate slow connections, allowing attackers to exhaust server resources by holding connections open with minimal data transmission.

MitigationConfigure aggressive connection timeouts and connection limits on affected endpoints, or apply vendor patches to address the Slowloris vulnerability.

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:= 6.0.3
Sync GatewayApplication
Affected:<= 2.7.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Couchbase product
    Check if Couchbase Server or Sync Gateway is installed in your environment. Look for process names 'couchbase' or 'sync_gateway' or check installed packages.
    Affected if Either Couchbase Server or Sync Gateway is present
  2. Determine Couchbase Server version
    For Server installations, use the command-line interface: 'couchbase-cli server-info -c localhost -u Administrator -p <password>' or check the About screen in the admin console. The displayed version should be compared to 6.0.3.
    Affected if Version is exactly 6.0.3
  3. Determine Sync Gateway version
    For Sync Gateway, check the version via the admin REST API endpoint '/_meta' or run 'sync_gateway --version' if available. The displayed version should be compared to 2.7.0.
    Affected if Version is 2.7.0 or lower (any version through 2.7.0)
  4. Verify exposed management endpoints
    Check if the cluster management port (8091), view endpoints (/_design/*/_view), query endpoint (/_p/query), or full-text search endpoint (/_p/fts) are exposed to untrusted networks. These are the affected endpoints.
    Affected if Any of these endpoints are accessible from untrusted network segments

You are affected if you are running Couchbase Server 6.0.3 or Sync Gateway 2.7.0 or lower, AND the cluster management, views, query, or full-text search endpoints are exposed to network traffic where an attacker could establish slow connections.

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 a release after 2.7.0
Interim mitigation

Configure aggressive connection timeouts and connection limits on affected endpoints, or apply vendor patches to address the Slowloris vulnerability.

Fix this in Couchbase Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-9041 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