IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 could allow a remote attacker to traverse directories on the system.

published 2021-03-10 5y ago modified 2026-06-17 4mo ago also EUVD-2020-26263

cvss: 5.3; version 3.0, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 2.5%; EPSS 2.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 84%
public exploits: 0; none known

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.

Patch / fix

links 1

ibm.com/support/pages/node/6427873 advisory

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Exploit prediction

2.50% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 84% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.0	5.3	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
NVD	3.1	6.5	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA	3.0	5.3	CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD	2.0	3.5	AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N

Affected products

IBM WebSphere Application Server

Classification

Weakness

CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory

References

ibm.com /support/pages/node/6427873
patch, vendor-advisory
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com /vulnerabilities/193556
vdb-entry, vendor-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2020-5016
NVD CVE-2020-5016

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