How severe is CVE-2020-13947?

CVE-2020-13947 has a CVSS score of 6.1/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-13947?

CVE-2020-13947 affects the following packages: org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2020-13947?

Update org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent to 5.16.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-13947 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-13947 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-13947 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2020-13947?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-13947 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2020-13947 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-13947 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-13947?

CVE-2020-13947 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 79.0%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-13947?

CVE-2020-13947 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2020-13947 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-13947 was published on February 8, 2021 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕ Maven

CVE-2020-13947

MEDIUM

Cross-site scripting (XSS) in Apache ActiveMQ

Also known asBIT-activemq-2020-13947GHSA-66gw-ch5v-74v8

Published

Feb 8, 2021

Updated

Apr 10, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

79.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile+74.94%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

2 pkgs affected

☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

An instance of a cross-site scripting vulnerability was identified to be present in the web based administration console on the message.jsp page of Apache ActiveMQ versions 5.15.12 through 5.16.0.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent`	≥ 5.16.0&&< 5.16.1	5.16.1
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent`	all versions	5.15.14

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent. 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 org.apache.activemq:activemq-parent to 5.16.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-13947 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-2020-13947 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-2020-13947. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

An instance of a cross-site scripting vulnerability was identified to be present in the web based administration console on the message.jsp page of Apache ActiveMQ versions 5.15.12 through 5.16.0.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-13947 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2020-13947 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works