Summary
Unsafe Identifiers in Opencast
Workarounds
There is no workaround for this.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in opencast/opencast
- For security-relevant information, email us at [email protected]
Impact
Opencast allows almost arbitrary identifiers for media packages and
elements to be used. This can be problematic for operation and security
since such identifiers are sometimes used for file system operations
which may lead to an attacker being able to escape working directories and
write files to other locations.
In addition, Opencast's Id.toString(…) vs Id.compact(…) behavior,
the latter trying to mitigate some of the file system problems, can
cause errors due to identifier mismatch since an identifier may
unintentionally change.
CVE-2020-5230 has a CVSS score of 7.7 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low 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 (7.6, 8.1); 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 is fixed in Opencast 7.6 and 8.1.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2020-5230? CVE-2020-5230 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in org.opencastproject:base (maven), affecting versions < 7.6. It is fixed in 7.6, 8.1.
- How severe is CVE-2020-5230? CVE-2020-5230 has a CVSS score of 7.7 (Medium). 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 org.opencastproject:base are affected by CVE-2020-5230? org.opencastproject:base (maven) versions < 7.6 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2020-5230? Yes. CVE-2020-5230 is fixed in 7.6, 8.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2020-5230 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-5230 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-2020-5230 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-2020-5230?
- Upgrade
org.opencastproject:baseto 7.6 or later - Upgrade
org.opencastproject:baseto 8.1 or later
- Upgrade