How severe is CVE-2020-7938?

CVE-2020-7938 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-7938?

CVE-2020-7938 affects the following packages: plone-restapi (PyPI), plone (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2020-7938?

Update plone-restapi to 6.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-7938 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-7938 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for plone-restapi. 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-2020-7938 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-2020-7938?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-7938 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-2020-7938 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-7938 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was CVE-2020-7938 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-7938 was published on January 23, 2020 and was last updated on July 13, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍 PyPI

CVE-2020-7938

HIGH

CVE-2020-7938 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) vulnerability in plone-restapi. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-7938 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Plone Privilege Escallation

Also known asGHSA-cjg3-q24h-9qwfPYSEC-2020-87PYSEC-2026-2889

Published

Jan 23, 2020

Updated

Jul 13, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Blast Radius

2 pkgs affected

🐍plone-restapi🐍plone

Real-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

plone.restapi in Plone 5.2.0 through 5.2.1 allows users with a certain privilege level to escalate their privileges up to the highest level.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`plone-restapi`	all versions	6.2.1
🐍PyPI	`plone`	≥ 5.2.0&&< 5.2.2	5.2.2

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for plone-restapi. 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 plone-restapi to 6.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-7938 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-2020-7938 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-2020-7938. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

plone.restapi in Plone 5.2.0 through 5.2.1 allows users with a certain privilege level to escalate their privileges up to the highest level.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-7938 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2020-7938 across PyPI 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