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Vulnerability Intelligence

CVE-2020-6754

Critical

dotCMS before 5.2.4 is vulnerable to directory traversal, leading to incorrect access control.

Published Feb 5, 2020 · Updated Aug 7, 2026

Key Facts

Patch immediately
  • CVE-2020-6754 is a critical-severity vulnerability (CVSS 9.8 v3.1) affecting Dotcms.
  • It is not listed in any known-exploited vulnerabilities catalog. No public exploit code is known.
  • EPSS estimates a 95% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
  • Fixed versions are available, including Dotcms 5.2.4.
  • Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is very likely to be exploited soon.

CVSS v3.1

9.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS (30-day exploit likelihood)

95%

Higher than 99.8% of all scored CVEs

Exploited in the wild

No known

Not in a known-exploited catalog

Public exploit code

None known

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Description

dotCMS before 5.2.4 is vulnerable to directory traversal, leading to incorrect access control. It allows an attacker to read or execute files under $TOMCAT_HOME/webapps/ROOT/assets (which should be a protected directory). Additionally, attackers can upload temporary files (e.g., .jsp files) into /webapps/ROOT/assets/tmp_upload, which can lead to remote command execution (with the permissions of the user running the dotCMS application).

Affected Products

1 affected entries in total
ProductAffected versionsFixed in
DotcmsDotcmsSee advisory5.2.4

Patched Releases

Dotcms

5.2.4

Timeline

  1. Publicly disclosed

    Feb 5, 2020

  2. Last updated

    Aug 7, 2026

Weakness Type

  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
  • CWE-434 Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

References

FAQ

Common Questions.

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