# CVE-2020-27217: Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input in Eclipse Hono

> Attackers can cause denial of service in Eclipse Hono by sending oversized AMQP messages, leading to out-of-memory exceptions.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Nov 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9f52-hpvw-v96w

## What is CVE-2020-27217?

CVE-2020-27217 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Hono, published on 13 Nov 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Eclipse Hono version 1.3.0 and 1.4.0 the AMQP protocol adapter does not verify the size of AMQP messages received from devices. In particular, a device may send messages that are bigger than the max-message-size that the protocol adapter has indicated during link establishment. While the AMQP 1.0 protocol explicitly disallows a peer to send such messages, a hand crafted AMQP 1.0 client could exploit this behavior in order to send a message of unlimited size to the adapter, eventually causing the adapter to fail with an out of memory exception.

Weakness: CWE-1284 (Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-27217?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.eclipse.hono:hono-core. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.eclipse.hono:hono-core` | Maven | All versions | 1.4.3 |
| `org.eclipse.hono:hono-core` | Maven | All versions | 1.4.3 |

Products: Eclipse Hono.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-27217?

Upgrade org.eclipse.hono:hono-core to 1.4.3 or later.

## Is CVE-2020-27217 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-27217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Hono

- [CVE-2020-27220](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27220/): Missing authorization in Eclipse Hono (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-27217 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-27217 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Hono, published on 13 Nov 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-27217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.eclipse.hono:hono-core (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 1.4.3
- org.eclipse.hono:hono-core (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 1.4.3

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-2020-27217/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27217/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-27217
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-27217
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-27217

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27217/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.