# CVE-2020-28851: Denial of service in n/a

> An attacker can cause a denial of service by sending a crafted Accept-Language header that triggers a panic in the Go x/text library.

- **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:** 2 Jan 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** AZL-41422, AZL-45033, BIT-golang-2020-28851, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-28851, GHSA-739f-9qhv-6594, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-28851

## What is CVE-2020-28851?

CVE-2020-28851 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Golang Go, published on 2 Jan 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In x/text in Go 1.15.4, an "index out of range" panic occurs in language.ParseAcceptLanguage while parsing the -u- extension. (x/text/language is supposed to be able to parse an HTTP Accept-Language header.)

Weakness: CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Array Index)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-28851?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including golang. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `golang` | Bitnami | From 1.15.4 | 1.15.5 |

Products: Golang Go.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-28851?

Upgrade golang to 1.15.5 or later.

## Is CVE-2020-28851 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-28851 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Golang Go

- [CVE-2020-0601](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-0601/): Microsoft Windows CryptoAPI Spoofing (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-27143](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27143/): Missing bound checks can lead to memory corruption in safe Go in cmd/compile (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-24790](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-24790/): Unexpected behavior from Is methods for IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses in net/netip (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-39320](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-39320/): Arbitrary code execution via go.mod toolchain directive in cmd/go (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-24540](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24540/): Improper handling of JavaScript whitespace in html/template (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-28851 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-28851 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Golang Go, published on 2 Jan 2021. 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-2020-28851 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- golang (Bitnami): affected from 1.15.4; fixed in 1.15.5

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-2020-28851/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28851/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-28851
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28851
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-28851

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28851/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.