CVE-2020-9042
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 · uneditedIn Couchbase Server 6.0, credentials cached by a browser can be used to perform a CSRF attack if an administrator has used their browser to check the results of a REST API request.
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 confidenceThis is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Couchbase Server 6.0. When an administrator uses their browser to check REST API results, authentication credentials get cached by the browser. These cached credentials can then be exploited by attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of the authenticated administrator.
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= 6.0.0CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify Couchbase Server installation and versionRun 'couchbase-server --version' or check the installed packages using your system's package manager (dpkg, rpm, etc.). Alternatively, access the Couchbase Web Console and check the 'Server Version' in the UI or query the /pools/default endpoint via REST API.Affected if The installed version is exactly 6.0.0
-
Determine if Web Console REST API access is in useCheck if the Couchbase Web Console (typically on ports 8091, 18091) is accessible and being used by administrators to execute REST API calls. Look for browser-based interaction with the Couchbase REST API.Affected if Administrators use the Couchbase Web Console browser interface to execute REST API queries
-
Verify browser credential caching behaviorInspect browser settings or use browser developer tools to examine whether authentication credentials (session cookies, basic auth headers) are being cached after authenticating to the Couchbase Web Console. Check the browser's cache and cookie storage for Couchbase-related credentials.Affected if Browser is caching authentication credentials from Couchbase Server sessions
A user is affected if they are running Couchbase Server version 6.0.0 AND using the browser-based Web Console to interact with REST APIs, which causes authentication credentials to be cached by the browser and become vulnerable to CSRF exploitation.
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 dataUpgrade from Couchbase Server 6.0 to a patched version. Alternatively, implement anti-CSRF tokens and proper request validation for all state-changing operations, and avoid caching sensitive credentials in the browser.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9042 — 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-2020-9042 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
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.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data