How severe is CVE-2020-16844?

CVE-2020-16844 has a CVSS score of 6.8/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-16844?

CVE-2020-16844 affects the following packages: istio.io/istio (Go), istio.io/istio (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2020-16844?

Update istio.io/istio to 1.5.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-16844 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-16844 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for istio.io/istio. 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-2020-16844 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-2020-16844?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-16844 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-2020-16844 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2020-16844, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-16844?

CVE-2020-16844 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.1%, placing it in the 61th 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.

When was CVE-2020-16844 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-16844 was published on October 1, 2020 and was last updated on March 14, 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

CVE-2020-16844

MEDIUM

Authorization bypass in Istio

Also known asGHSA-82mm-ffjr-h86c

Published

Oct 1, 2020

Updated

Mar 14, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk61th percentile+0.80%

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

🐹istio.io/istio🐹istio.io/istio

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

In Istio 1.5.0 though 1.5.8 and Istio 1.6.0 through 1.6.7, when users specify an AuthorizationPolicy resource with DENY actions using wildcard suffixes (e.g. *-some-suffix) for source principals or namespace fields, callers will never be denied access, bypassing the intended policy.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`istio.io/istio`	≥ 1.5.0&&< 1.5.9	1.5.9
🐹Go	`istio.io/istio`	≥ 1.6.0&&< 1.6.8	1.6.8

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

In Istio 1.5.0 though 1.5.8 and Istio 1.6.0 through 1.6.7, when users sp…

istio.ioNVDOct 2020

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for istio.io/istio. 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 istio.io/istio to 1.5.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-16844 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-2020-16844 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-2020-16844. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-16844 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2020-16844 across Go 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