Summary
Privilege escalation in Presto
Affected
This affects Presto server installations. This does NOT affect clients such as the CLI or JDBC driver.
Workarounds
This issue can be mitigated by blocking network access to internal APIs on the coordinator and workers.
References
See the Presto documentation for Secure Internal Communication.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Join the #security channel on Slack.
- Contact the security team at [email protected]
Impact
Authenticated users can bypass authorization checks by directly accessing internal APIs. This impacts Presto server installations with secure internal communication configured.
This does not affect installations that have not configured secure internal communication, as these installations are inherently insecure.
CVE-2020-15087 has a CVSS score of 7.4 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (337); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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This issue has been fixed starting with PrestoSQL version 337.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2020-15087? CVE-2020-15087 is a high-severity security vulnerability in io.prestosql:presto-server (maven), affecting versions < 337. It is fixed in 337.
- How severe is CVE-2020-15087? CVE-2020-15087 has a CVSS score of 7.4 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of io.prestosql:presto-server are affected by CVE-2020-15087? io.prestosql:presto-server (maven) versions < 337 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2020-15087? Yes. CVE-2020-15087 is fixed in 337. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2020-15087 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-15087 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2020-15087 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2020-15087? Upgrade
io.prestosql:presto-serverto 337 or later.