CVE-2020-2109 — workflow-cps
HIGHCVE-2020-2109 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cps. A fix is available for org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cps — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Input Validation in Jenkins Pipeline: Groovy Plugin
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-2109 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cpsReal-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
Sandbox protection in Jenkins Pipeline: Groovy Plugin 2.78 and earlier can be circumvented through default parameter expressions in CPS-transformed methods.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cps | all versions | 2.79org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cps:2.79 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cps, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow:workflow-cps to 2.79 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-2109 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2020-2109 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2020-2109. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:3.11.1591354111-1.el7 | RHSA-2020:2478 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.3 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.3.1597915133-1.el7 | RHSA-2020:3616 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.4 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.4.1592817009-1.el7 | RHSA-2020:2737 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-2109 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2020-2109 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.