# CVE-2020-5864: Weak cryptography in NGINX Controller

> NGINX Controller skips TLS verification by default, allowing attackers to intercept or manipulate traffic between the controller and NGINX Plus instances.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gr6m-w52c-x634

## What is CVE-2020-5864?

CVE-2020-5864 is a high-severity vulnerability in NGINX Controller, published on 23 Apr 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In versions of NGINX Controller prior to 3.2.0, communication between NGINX Controller and NGINX Plus instances skip TLS verification by default.

Weakness: CWE-295 (Improper Certificate Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-5864?

It affects 1 product.


Products: F5 Nginx Controller.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-5864?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-5864 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-5864 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-5864 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in NGINX Controller

- [CVE-2020-27730](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27730/): Path traversal in NGINX Controller (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-5901](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5901/): Cross-site scripting in NGINX Controller (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2020-5900](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5900/): Cross-site request forgery in NGINX Controller (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-5863](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5863/): Missing authorization in NGINX Controller (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2020-5894](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5894/): Security feature bypass in NGINX Controller (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-5864 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-5864 is a high-severity vulnerability in NGINX Controller, published on 23 Apr 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-2020-5864 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: NGINX Controller. 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-2020-5864/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5864/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-5864
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5864
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-5864

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5864/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.