CVE-2020-8908 is a low-severity (CVSS 3.3) CWE-378 vulnerability in com.google.guava:guava. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for com.google.guava:guava — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Information Disclosure in Guava
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-8908 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
com.google.guava:guavaReal-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
A temp directory creation vulnerability exists in all versions of Guava, allowing an attacker with access to the machine to potentially access data in a temporary directory created by the Guava API com.google.common.io.Files.createTempDir(). By default, on unix-like systems, the created directory is world-readable (readable by an attacker with access to the system). The method in question has been marked @Deprecated in versions 30.0 and later and should not be used. For Android developers, we recommend choosing a temporary directory API provided by Android, such as context.getCacheDir(). For other Java developers, we recommend migrating to the Java 7 API java.nio.file.Files.createTempDirectory() which explicitly configures permissions of 700, or configuring the Java runtime's java.io.tmpdir system property to point to a location whose permissions are appropriately configured.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.google.guava:guava | all versions | 32.0.0-androidcom.google.guava:guava:32.0.0-android |
Affected Products
guavagoogleactive iq unified managernetappcommerce guided searchoraclecommunications cloud native core network repository functionoraclecommunications cloud native core network slice selection functionoraclecommunications pricing design centeroracleResearch 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 com.google.guava:guava, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.google.guava:guava to 32.0.0-android or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8908 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.
Red Hat OpenStack Platform's OpenDaylight will not be updated for this flaw because it was deprecated as of OpenStack Platform 14 and is only receiving security fixes for Important and Critical flaws.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat AMQ 7.8.1 | guava | RHSA-2021:0417 |
| Red Hat EAP-XP via EAP 7.3.x base | guava | RHSA-2021:2210 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | guava | RHSA-2021:0885 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 for RHEL 6 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.9.0-9.redhat_00019.1.el6eap | RHSA-2021:0872 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 for RHEL 7 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.9.0-9.redhat_00019.1.el7eap | RHSA-2021:0873 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 for RHEL 8 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.9.0-9.redhat_00019.1.el8eap | RHSA-2021:0874 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.10 for RHEL 7 | candlepin-0:4.0.9-1.el7sat | RHSA-2021:4702 |
| Red Hat Single Sign-On 7.4.6 | guava | RHSA-2021:0974 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-8908 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.