# CVE-2020-15709: add-apt-repository print ASNI terminal codes

> PPA owners can inject ANSI escape codes into terminal output via add-apt-repository, potentially modifying terminal contents unexpectedly.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-15709, DLA-2339-1, GHSA-9gjg-6646-fqxh, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-15709, USN-4457-1, USN-4457-2

## What is CVE-2020-15709?

CVE-2020-15709 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Canonical add-apt-repository, published on 5 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Versions of add-apt-repository before 0.98.9.2, 0.96.24.32.14, 0.96.20.10, and 0.92.37.8ubuntu0.1~esm1, printed a PPA (personal package archive) description to the terminal as-is, which allowed PPA owners to provide ANSI terminal escapes to modify terminal contents in unexpected ways.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15709?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Canonical Add-Apt-Repository.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-15709?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2020-15709 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15709 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-15709 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-15709 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Canonical add-apt-repository, published on 5 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15709 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical add-apt-repository. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15709/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15709/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-15709
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15709
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-15709

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15709/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.