What is CVE-2020-7787?

CVE-2020-7787 is a high-severity improper authentication vulnerability in react-adal (npm), affecting versions < 0.5.1. It is fixed in 0.5.1. The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access.

How severe is CVE-2020-7787?

CVE-2020-7787 has a CVSS score of 8.2 (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 react-adal are affected by CVE-2020-7787?

react-adal (npm) versions < 0.5.1 is affected.

Is there a fix for CVE-2020-7787?

Yes. CVE-2020-7787 is fixed in 0.5.1. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is CVE-2020-7787 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2020-7787 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.

What actually determines whether CVE-2020-7787 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.

CVE-2020-7787 in react-adal

Q: How severe is CVE-2020-7787?

CVE-2020-7787 has a CVSS score of 8.2 (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.

Q: Which versions of react-adal are affected by CVE-2020-7787?

react-adal (npm) versions < 0.5.1 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2020-7787?

Yes. CVE-2020-7787 is fixed in 0.5.1. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is CVE-2020-7787 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2020-7787 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.

Q: What actually determines whether CVE-2020-7787 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.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2020-7787?

Upgrade react-adal to 0.5.1 or later.

Summary

Improper Authentication in react-adal

This affects versions of react-adal < 0.5.1. It is possible for a specially crafted JWT token and request URL can cause the nonce, session and refresh values to be incorrectly validated, causing the application to treat an attacker-generated JWT token as authentic. The logical defect is caused by how the nonce, session and refresh values are stored in the browser local storage or session storage. Each key is automatically appended by ||. When the received nonce and session keys are generated, the list of values is stored in the browser storage, separated by ||, with || always appended to the end of the list. Since || will always be the last 2 characters of the stored values, an empty string ("") will always be in the list of the valid values. Therefore, if an empty session parameter is provided in the callback URL, and a specially-crafted JWT token contains an nonce value of "" (empty string), then adal.js will consider the JWT token as authentic.

Impact

The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access. Typical impact: unauthorized access to functions or data reserved for authenticated parties.

CVE-2020-7787 has a CVSS score of 8.2 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (0.5.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

react-adal (< 0.5.1)

Security releases

react-adal → 0.5.1 (npm)

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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Remediation advice

Upgrade react-adal to 0.5.1 or later to resolve this vulnerability.

Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-7787? CVE-2020-7787 is a high-severity improper authentication vulnerability in react-adal (npm), affecting versions < 0.5.1. It is fixed in 0.5.1. The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access.
How severe is CVE-2020-7787? CVE-2020-7787 has a CVSS score of 8.2 (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 react-adal are affected by CVE-2020-7787? react-adal (npm) versions < 0.5.1 is affected.
Is there a fix for CVE-2020-7787? Yes. CVE-2020-7787 is fixed in 0.5.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is CVE-2020-7787 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-7787 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-2020-7787 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-2020-7787? Upgrade react-adal to 0.5.1 or later.