CVE-2020-17534
HIGHCVE-2020-17534 is a high-severity (CVSS 7) CWE-362 vulnerability in org.netbeans.html:pom. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-17534 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Improper synchronization in Apache Netbeans HTML/Java API
Real-World Exposure
org.netbeans.html:pomReal-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
There exists a race condition between the deletion of the temporary file and the creation of the temporary directory in webkit subproject of HTML/Java API version 1.7. A similar vulnerability has recently been disclosed in other Java projects and the fix in HTML/Java API version 1.7.1 follows theirs: To avoid local privilege escalation version 1.7.1 creates the temporary directory atomically without dealing with the temporary file: https://github.com/apache/netbeans-html4j/commit/fa70e507e5555e1adb4f6518479fc408a7abd0e6
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.netbeans.html:pom | all versions | 1.7.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.netbeans.html:pom. 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.netbeans.html:pom to 1.7.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-17534 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-2020-17534 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-2020-17534. 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-2020-17534 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-17534 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.