# CVE-2020-7799: Code injection in n/a

> Authenticated users with template editing permissions can execute arbitrary OS commands via FreeMarker injection in FusionAuth.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5649-2hc3-qv28

## What is CVE-2020-7799?

CVE-2020-7799 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in n/a, published on 28 Jan 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in FusionAuth before 1.11.0. An authenticated user, allowed to edit e-mail templates (Home -> Settings -> Email Templates) or themes (Home -> Settings -> Themes), can execute commands on the underlying operating system by abusing freemarker.template.utility.Execute in the Apache FreeMarker engine that processes custom templates.

Weakness: CWE-917 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an Expression Language Statement)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7799?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Fusionauth Fusionauth.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7799?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7799 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7799 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7799 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- https://github.com/ianxtianxt/CVE-2020-7799 (github_poc): https://github.com/ianxtianxt/CVE-2020-7799
- 批量检测cve-2020-7799 (github_poc): https://github.com/Pikaqi/cve-2020-7799

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2022-45921](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45921/): FusionAuth vulnerable to directory traversal attack (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7799 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7799 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in n/a, published on 28 Jan 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7799 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2020-7799/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7799/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7799
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7799
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7799

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7799/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.