CVE-2020-5016IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 could allow a remote attacker to traverse directories on the system. When…
- 5.3MediumCVSS base score
- 2.5%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 15% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 could allow a remote attacker to traverse directories on the system. When application security is disabled and JAX-RPC applications are present, an attacker could send a specially-crafted URL request containing "dot dot" sequences (/../) to view arbitrary xml files on the system. This does not occur if Application security is enabled. IBM X-Force ID: 193556.
Timeline
ID reserved
By ibm
- 15 months later
· 15 months later
Published
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| ibmCNA (assigner) | 3.0 | Medium5.3 | CVSS:3.0/A:N/I:N/PR:L/C:H/S:U/AC:H/AV:N/UI:N/RC:C/E:U/RL:O |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Medium6.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 2.5% · top 15% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.3.
Affected products
IBM · WebSphere Application Server
- affected 7.0
- affected 8.0
- affected 8.5
- affected 9.0
References
References2
- https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6427873 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- ibm-websphere-cve20205016-info-disc (193556) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2020-26263 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2020-5016)Record last updated .