# CVE-2020-6939: Missing authorization in Tableau Server

> Unauthenticated users can modify Site-Specific SAML settings in Tableau Server, potentially leading to account takeover.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Nov 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5996-m95h-vq3m

## What is CVE-2020-6939?

CVE-2020-6939 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in Tableau Server, published on 23 Nov 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Tableau Server installations configured with Site-Specific SAML that allows the APIs to be used by unauthenticated users. If exploited, this could allow a malicious user to configure Site-Specific SAML settings and could lead to account takeover for users of that site. Tableau Server versions affected on both Windows and Linux are: 2018.2 through 2018.2.27, 2018.3 through 2018.3.24, 2019.1 through 2019.1.22, 2019.2 through 2019.2.18, 2019.3 through 2019.3.14, 2019.4 through 2019.4.13, 2020.1 through 2020.1.10, 2020.2 through 2020.2.7, and 2020.3 through 2020.3.2.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-6939?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Tableau Tableau Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-6939?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-6939 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-6939 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-6939 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Tableau Server

- [CVE-2022-22128](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22128/): Path traversal in Tableau Server (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-26496](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-26496/): Code injection in Tableau Server, Tableau Desktop (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2025-52451](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-52451/): Path traversal in Tableau Server (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2025-52449](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-52449/): File upload in Tableau Server (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2025-52452](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-52452/): Path traversal in Tableau Server (high 8.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-6939 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-6939 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in Tableau Server, published on 23 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-2020-6939 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Tableau Server. 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-2020-6939/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-6939/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-6939
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-6939
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-6939

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-6939/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.