CVE-2020-11455 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Path Traversal vulnerability. 4 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-11455 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
LimeSurvey before 4.1.12+200324 contains a path traversal vulnerability in application/controllers/admin/LimeSurveyFileManager.php.
Affected Products
limesurveylimesurveyResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
LimeSurvey 4.1.11 - 'File Manager' Path Traversal
by Matthew Aberegg · Apr 6, 2020
Detection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Fix
Upgrade the affected component to the fixed release for CVE-2020-11455, or apply your distribution's backported patch — distro builds are often patched at an older version number, so check your vendor's advisory rather than the upstream version alone.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
How to detect CVE-2020-11455
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2020-11455 -u https://target- Template
- LimeSurvey 4.1.11 - Local File Inclusion
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive files, remote code execution, and potential compromise of the server.
- Remediation
- Upgrade to the latest version of LimeSurvey (4.1.12 or higher) which includes a fix for this vulnerability.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (daffainfo), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-11455 in your dependencies?
Find it across , including transitive dependencies.