CVE-2020-28463 — reportlab
MEDIUMCVE-2020-28463 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in reportlab. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for reportlab — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Server-side Request Forgery (SSRF) via img tags in reportlab
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-2020-28463 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
reportlabReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
All versions of package reportlab are vulnerable to Server-side Request Forgery (SSRF) via img tags. In order to reduce risk, use trustedSchemes & trustedHosts (see in Reportlab's documentation) Steps to reproduce by Karan Bamal: 1. Download and install the latest package of reportlab 2. Go to demos -> odyssey -> dodyssey 3. In the text file odyssey.txt that needs to be converted to pdf inject <img src="http://127.0.0.1:5000" valign="top"/> 4. Create a nc listener nc -lp 5000 5. Run python3 dodyssey.py 6. You will get a hit on your nc showing we have successfully proceded to send a server side request 7. dodyssey.py will show error since there is no img file on the url, but we are able to do SSRF
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | reportlab | all versions | 3.5.55pip install --upgrade 'reportlab==3.5.55' |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for reportlab, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update reportlab to 3.5.55 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-28463 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-2020-28463 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2020-28463. 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-2020-28463 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2020-28463 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.