Vulnerability Snapshot
CVE-2020-1938 is rated CRITICAL — exploitation is trivial or already observed in the wild and impact is severe. Patch immediately, not on the next maintenance window.
This vulnerability appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been observed in active attacks. Federal agencies have a remediation deadline; commercial defenders should treat it with equivalent urgency.
Affected technology: geode, tomcat, fedora, agile_engineering_data_management, agile_product_lifecycle_management, plus 5 other product variants.
Executive Summary
When using the Apache JServ Protocol (AJP), care must be taken when trusting incoming connections to Apache Tomcat. Tomcat treats AJP connections as having higher trust than, for example, a similar HTTP connection. If such connections are available to an attacker, they can be exploited in ways that may be surprising. In Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.30, 8.5.0 to 8.5.50 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.99, Tomcat shipped with an AJP Connector enabled by default that listened on all configured IP addresses. It was expected (and recommended in the security guide) that this Connector would be disabled if not required. This vulnerability report identified a mechanism that allowed: - returning arbitrary files from anywhere in the web application - processing any file in the web application as a JSP Further, if the web application allowed file upload and stored those files within the web application (or the attacker was able to control the content of the web application by some other means) then this, alon
Why It Matters
CVE-2020-1938 is rated CRITICAL severity, requiring immediate attention from security teams.
⚠️ This vulnerability is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, indicating it has been actively exploited in the wild. Federal agencies must remediate by the deadline.
CVSS Base Score: 9.8/10
Affected Technologies
Vendors: apache, fedoraproject, oracle, debian, opensuse, blackberry, netapp
Products: geode, tomcat, fedora, agile_engineering_data_management, agile_product_lifecycle_management, communications_element_manager, communications_instant_messaging_server, health_sciences_empirica_inspections, health_sciences_empirica_signal, hospitality_guest_access, instantis_enterprisetrack, mysql_enterprise_monitor, siebel_ui_framework, transportation_management, workload_manager, debian_linux, leap, good_control, workspaces_server, data_availability_services, oncommand_system_manager
🛡️What Defenders Should Check
Use Vulnios to continuously monitor your exposure to CVE-2020-1938 and similar vulnerabilities.
References & Sources
How Vulnios Detects This
Vulnios scans for this vulnerability using Trivy and Grype for CVE matching against your container images and OS package manifests and Nuclei templates that probe live HTTP surfaces for the published exploit pattern. Run a scan against your environment to see whether you are exposed; findings are linked back to the original CVE record so triage starts with the patch path already known.
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Affected Products
Sources
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2020-1938?
CVE-2020-1938 is a critical-severity vulnerability tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program. When using the Apache JServ Protocol (AJP), care must be taken when trusting incoming connections to Apache Tomcat. Tomcat treats AJP connections as having higher trust than, for example, a similar HT
Am I affected?
Check whether your environment runs geode, tomcat, fedora, agile_engineering_data_management, agile_product_lifecycle_management. If you operate any of those, treat yourself as in scope until you have evidence otherwise. A Vulnios scan will identify the exact assets carrying the affected version.
How urgent is the response?
Critical: do not wait for your normal patch cycle. Verify exposure today, apply the vendor patch immediately, and add detection rules for any post-exploit indicators.
How do I remediate?
Apply the vendor patch listed in the upstream advisory linked under Sources. If the patch is not yet available, follow the vendor-supplied workaround (often a config flag or feature disable) and add detections for the published exploit pattern in your SIEM. Re-scan after the patch lands to confirm the finding clears.
Where can I track exploitation activity?
Watch CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for CVE-2020-1938. Cross-reference with public exploit databases and your own SIEM/IDS for indicator-of-compromise patterns. Vulnios tracks KEV status automatically and surfaces it on the asset findings view.
How does Vulnios help with this?
Vulnios continuously cross-references your asset inventory against the live CVE feed (NVD, vendor advisories, CISA KEV, and curated OSINT). When a new CVE matches your environment, you get a prioritized finding with the severity, KEV status, exploit-prediction (EPSS), and a direct path to the vendor patch. You can start a free scan from the homepage.
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