CVE-2020-13664
HIGHCVE-2020-13664 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-77 vulnerability in drupal/core. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-13664 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Drupal Core Arbitrary PHP code execution vulnerability
Blast Radius
drupal/core🐘drupal/core🐘drupal/core🐘drupal/drupal🐘drupal/drupal🐘drupal/drupalReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Arbitrary PHP code execution vulnerability in Drupal Core under certain circumstances. An attacker could trick an administrator into visiting a malicious site that could result in creating a carefully named directory on the file system. With this directory in place, an attacker could attempt to brute force a remote code execution vulnerability. Windows servers are most likely to be affected. This issue affects: Drupal Drupal Core 8.8.x versions prior to 8.8.8; 8.9.x versions prior to 8.9.1; 9.0.1 versions prior to 9.0.1.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 8.8.0&&< 8.8.8 | 8.8.8 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 8.9.0&&< 8.9.1 | 8.9.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.1 | 9.0.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/drupal | ≥ 8.8.0&&< 8.8.8 | 8.8.8 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/drupal | ≥ 8.9.0&&< 8.9.1 | 8.9.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/drupal | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.1 | 9.0.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for drupal/core. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update drupal/core to 8.8.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-13664 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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 O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-13664 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2020-13664. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-13664 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-13664 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.