CVE-2020-17521 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) vulnerability in org.codehaus.groovy:groovy. A fix is available for org.codehaus.groovy:groovy — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Information Disclosure in Apache Groovy
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2020-17521.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
org.codehaus.groovy:groovy☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-allReal-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
Apache Groovy provides extension methods to aid with creating temporary directories. Prior to this fix, Groovy's implementation of those extension methods was using a now superseded Java JDK method call that is potentially not secure on some operating systems in some contexts. Users not using the extension methods mentioned in the advisory are not affected, but may wish to read the advisory for further details. Versions Affected: 2.0 to 2.4.20, 2.5.0 to 2.5.13, 3.0.0 to 3.0.6, and 4.0.0-alpha-1. Fixed in versions 2.4.21, 2.5.14, 3.0.7, 4.0.0-alpha-2.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.groovy:groovy | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.4.21 | 2.4.21org.codehaus.groovy:groovy:2.4.21 |
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.groovy:groovy | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.5.14 | 2.5.14org.codehaus.groovy:groovy:2.5.14 |
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.groovy:groovy | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.0.7 | 3.0.7org.codehaus.groovy:groovy:3.0.7 |
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.4.21 | 2.4.21org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:2.4.21 |
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.5.14 | 2.5.14org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:2.5.14 |
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.0.7 | 3.0.7org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:3.0.7 |
Affected Products
atlasapachegroovyapachesnapcenternetappagile engineering data managementoracleagile plm mcad connectororacleagile product lifecycle managementoracleDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.codehaus.groovy:groovy, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.codehaus.groovy:groovy to 2.4.21 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-17521 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.
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.
This flaw is rated as having a security impact of Moderate and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is now in Maintenance Support 2 Phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat…
Setting the `java.io.tmpdir` system environment variable to a directory that is exclusively owned by the executing user will fix this vulnerability for all operating systems and all Groovy versions. Users who cannot easily move to the fixed Groovy versions may wish to consider using the JDK’s Files#createTempDirectory method instead of the Groovy extension methods.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2020-17521 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Fuse 7.10 | groovy | RHSA-2021:5134 |
| Red Hat Integration | groovy | RHSA-2021:3205 |
| Red Hat Integration Camel Quarkus 2 | see advisory | RHSA-2021:3207 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-17521 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.