{"id":"GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf","summary":"Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in dropwizard-validation","details":"Dropwizard-Validation before 1.3.19, and 2.0.2 may allow arbitrary code execution on the host system, with the privileges of the Dropwizard service account, by injecting arbitrary Java Expression Language expressions when using the self-validating feature.\n\n### Summary\n\nA server-side template injection was identified in the self-validating ([`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html)) feature of **dropwizard-validation** enabling attackers to inject arbitrary Java EL expressions, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability.\n\nIf you're using a self-validating bean (via [`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html)), an upgrade to Dropwizard 1.3.19 or 2.0.2 is strongly recommended.\n\n### Impact\n\nThis issue may allow Remote Code Execution (RCE), allowing to run arbitrary code on the host system (with the privileges of the Dropwizard service account privileges) by injecting arbitrary [Java Expression Language (EL)](https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions) expressions when using the self-validating feature ([`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html), [`@SelfValidation`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidation.html)) in **dropwizard-validation**.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe issue has been fixed in **dropwizard-validation** **1.3.19** and **2.0.2**. We strongly recommend upgrading to one of these versions.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nIf you are not able to upgrade to one of the aforementioned versions of **dropwizard-validation** but still want to use the [`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html) feature, make sure to properly sanitize any message you're adding to the [`ViolationCollector`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/ViolationCollector.html) in the method annotated with [`@SelfValidation`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidation.html).\n\nExample:\n```java\n@SelfValidation\npublic void validateFullName(ViolationCollector col) {\n    if (fullName.contains(\"_\")) {\n        // Sanitize fullName variable by escaping relevant characters such as \"$\"\n        col.addViolation(\"Full name contains invalid characters:  \" + sanitizeJavaEl(fullName));\n    }\n}\n```\n\nSee also:\nhttps://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/blob/v2.0.2/dropwizard-validation/src/main/java/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/ViolationCollector.java#L84-L98\n\n### References\n\n* https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3157\n* https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3160\n* https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/7/tutorial/jsf-el.htm\n* https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions\n* https://beanvalidation.org/2.0/spec/#validationapi-message-defaultmessageinterpolation\n\n### For more information\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [dropwizard/dropwizard](https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/issues/new)\n* Start a discussion on the [dropwizard-dev mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/dropwizard-dev)\n\n### Security contact\n\nIf you want to responsibly disclose a security issue in Dropwizard or one of its official modules, please contact us via the published channels in our [security policy](https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/policy):\n\nhttps://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/policy#reporting-a-vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2020-5245"],"modified":"2026-07-08T06:27:16.731654570Z","published":"2020-02-24T17:27:27Z","related":["CVE-2020-11002"],"database_specific":{"github_reviewed_at":"2020-02-24T17:27:14Z","nvd_published_at":"2020-02-24T18:15:00Z","cwe_ids":["CWE-74"],"severity":"HIGH","github_reviewed":true},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/advisories/GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5245"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3157"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3160"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/commit/28479f743a9d0aab6d0e963fc07f3dd98e8c8236"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/commit/d87d1e4f8e20f6494c0232bf8560c961b46db634"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://beanvalidation.org/2.0/spec/#validationapi-message-defaultmessageinterpolation"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/7/tutorial/jsf-el.htm"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"io.dropwizard:dropwizard-validation","ecosystem":"Maven","purl":"pkg:maven/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-validation"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"1.3.0-rc1"},{"fixed":"1.3.19"}]}],"versions":["1.3.0","1.3.0-rc1","1.3.0-rc2","1.3.0-rc3","1.3.0-rc4","1.3.0-rc5","1.3.0-rc6","1.3.0-rc7","1.3.1","1.3.10","1.3.11","1.3.12","1.3.13","1.3.14","1.3.15","1.3.16","1.3.17","1.3.18","1.3.2","1.3.3","1.3.4","1.3.5","1.3.6","1.3.7","1.3.8","1.3.9"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2020/02/GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf/GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf.json"}},{"package":{"name":"io.dropwizard:dropwizard-validation","ecosystem":"Maven","purl":"pkg:maven/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-validation"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.0.0"},{"fixed":"2.0.2"}]}],"versions":["2.0.0","2.0.1"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2020/02/GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf/GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L"}]}