CVE-2020-11984 — httpd
CRITICALCVE-2020-11984 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-120 vulnerability. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-11984 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 396,966 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
Apache HTTP server 2.4.32 to 2.4.44 mod_proxy_uwsgi info disclosure and possible RCE
Affected Products
http serverapacheubuntu linuxcanonicaldebian linuxdebianfedorafedoraprojectclustered data ontapnetappleapopensuseResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
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`).
Remediation status
No fixed release is recorded for CVE-2020-11984 yet. Track the upstream advisory, and apply the exposure-reduction steps below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How to detect CVE-2020-11984
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2020-11984 -u https://target- Template
- Apache HTTP Server - Remote Code Execution
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Attackers can exploit the mod_proxy_uwsgi vulnerability to access sensitive information or execute arbitrary code on the Apache HTTP Server, potentially compromising the entire web server and its hosted applications.
- Remediation
- Update Apache HTTP Server to version 2.4.45 or later.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates ([email protected], pszyszkowski, pdresearch), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, and 7 do not ship the vulnerable version of httpd and, thus, are not affected.
This flaw only affects specific httpd configurations which use the uwsgi protocol. It does not manifest itself when uwsgi protocol is not used. Commenting out "LoadModule proxy_uwsgi_module modules/mod_proxy_uwsgi.so" in /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/00-proxy.conf will disable the loading of the vulnerable module.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2020-11984 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| JBoss Core Services on RHEL 6 | jbcs-httpd24-apr-0:1.6.3-104.jbcs.el6 | RHSA-2020:4384 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | httpd:2.4-8040020210127115317.9f9e2e7e | RHSA-2021:1809 |
| Red Hat JBoss Core Services | httpd | RHSA-2020:4383 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | httpd24-httpd-0:2.4.34-22.el7 | RHBA-2020:5280 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-11984 in your dependencies?
Find it across , including transitive dependencies.