CVE-2020-9280
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 SilverStripe through 4.5, files uploaded via Forms to folders migrated from Silverstripe CMS 3.x may be put to the default "/Uploads" folder instead. This affects installations which allowed upload folder protection via the optional silverstripe/secureassets module under 3.x. This module is installed and enabled by default on the Common Web Platform (CWP). The vulnerability only affects files uploaded after an upgrade to 4.x.
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 confidenceIn SilverStripe 4.x, when upgrading from 3.x installations that used the optional silverstripe/secureassets module for upload folder protection, files uploaded via Forms may be placed in the default publicly-accessible '/Uploads' folder instead of the intended protected folder. This occurs because folder protection settings from 3.x migrations are not properly preserved in 4.x, leading to potential disclosure of sensitive files that should have been protected.
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>= 4.0.0, <= 4.5.0CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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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Check installed SilverStripe versionRun `composer show silverstripe/framework` or inspect composer.lock to find the installed version numberAffected if Version is >= 4.0.0 and <= 4.5.0
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Determine if this is a migrated installationCheck if the site was upgraded from SilverStripe 3.x by reviewing upgrade history, git logs, or asking the site administratorAffected if The installation was upgraded from SilverStripe 3.x that used the silverstripe/secureassets module
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Verify if Form upload fields existSearch codebase for FileField, UploadField, or form configuration files (mysite/code/*.php) that handle file uploadsAffected if The application uses Form upload fields to accept user files
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Inspect upload folder destination configurationReview upload field configurations in PHP code and the Assets configuration (admin panel or config files) to identify the upload destination folderAffected if Upload destination defaults to /Uploads or is not explicitly set to a protected folder
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Check for files incorrectly placed in /UploadsExamine the /Uploads folder in the assets directory and compare against files that should have been placed in protected folders based on form logicAffected if Sensitive files exist in /Uploads that should have been in protected folders based on the application's security requirements
You are affected if running SilverStripe 4.0.0-4.5.0, upgraded from a 3.x installation with secureassets, and form uploads are landing in the default /Uploads folder instead of protected locations.
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 dataAfter upgrading from SilverStripe 3.x to 4.x, verify that Form upload destinations point to the correct protected folders and manually configure folder protection as needed. Identify and relocate any files incorrectly placed in /Uploads that should have been in protected folders.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9280 — 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-2020-9280 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data