How severe is CVE-2020-15115?

CVE-2020-15115 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-15115?

CVE-2020-15115 affects the following packages: go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 (Go), go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2020-15115?

Update go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 to 3.4.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15115 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-15115 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-15115 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Is CVE-2020-15115 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-15115 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-2020-15115?

CVE-2020-15115 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.3%, placing it in the 72th 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. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-15115?

CVE-2020-15115 is classified as CWE-521 (CWE-521). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2020-15115 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-15115 was published on August 6, 2020 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2020-15115 — client

HIGH

CVE-2020-15115 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-521 vulnerability in go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3. A fix is available for go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 — see the affected versions and patch details below.

etcd has no minimum password length

Also known asGHSA-4993-m7g5-r9hh

Published

Aug 6, 2020

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs72th percentile — riskier than 72% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

🐹go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3🐹go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3

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

Description

Vulnerability type

Access Control

Workarounds

The etcdctl and etcd API do not enforce a specific password length during user creation or user password update operations. It is the responsibility of the administrator to enforce these requirements.

Detail

etcd does not perform any password length validation, which allows for very short passwords, such as those with a length of one. This may allow an attacker to guess or brute-force users’ passwords with little computational effort.

References

Find out more on this vulnerability in the security audit report

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Contact the etcd security committee

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3`	≥ 3.4.0&&< 3.4.10	3.4.10`go get go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3@v3.4.10`
🐹Go	`go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3`	all versions	3.3.23`go get go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3@v3.3.23`

Affected Products

2 products · 3 configurations

fedorafedoraproject

1 version

Application

etcdredhat

≥ 3.4.0 && < 3.4.10

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 to 3.4.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15115 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

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 HatModerate

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (RHOCP) doesn't use etcd role-based access control (rbac), instead of that, OpenShift OAuth authentication is used. Therefore, RHOCP is not affected by this vulnerability. A similar configuration is in place in Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) as etcd does not use a password for…

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1	`etcd-0:3.3.23-1.el8ost`	RHSA-2021:0916

Frequently Asked Questions

### Vulnerability type Access Control ### Workarounds The etcdctl and etcd API do not enforce a specific password length during user creation or user password update operations. [It is the responsibility of the administrator to enforce these requirements](https://github.com/etcd-io/etcd/blob/master/Documentation/op-guide/authentication.md#notes-on-password-strength). ### Detail etcd does not perform any password length validation, which allows for very short passwords, such as those with a length of one. This may allow an attacker to guess or brute-force users’ passwords with little computat