# CVE-2020-7941: Plone Unauthenticated Write Vulnerability

> Users can overwrite content without write permission in Plone, leading to unauthorized data modification and privilege escalation.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w6g9-xccc-347h, PYSEC-2020-90, PYSEC-2026-459

## What is CVE-2020-7941?

CVE-2020-7941 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in Plone Plone, published on 23 Jan 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A privilege escalation issue in plone.app.contenttypes in Plone 4.3 through 5.2.1 allows users to PUT (overwrite) some content without needing write permission.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7941?

6 open source packages ship an affected version, including plone, Plone and plone-app-contenttypes. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `plone` | PyPI | From 4.3 to 5.2.1 | None |
| `plone` | PyPI | From 4.3 | 5.2.2 |
| `Plone` | PyPI | From 4.3 to 5.2.1 | None |
| `plone-app-contenttypes` | PyPI | All versions | None |
| `plone-app-contenttypes` | PyPI | All versions | 2.1.6 |
| `plone.app.contenttypes` | PyPI | All versions | None |

Products: Plone Plone.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7941?

Upgrade plone to 5.2.2 or later.

## Is CVE-2020-7941 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7941 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Plone Plone

- [CVE-2021-33509](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33509/): Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in Plone (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2020-35190](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35190/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2011-3587](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3587/): Zope Command Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2021-33926](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33926/): Server-Side Request Forgery in Plone CMS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-28734](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28734/): Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in Plone (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7941 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7941 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in Plone Plone, published on 23 Jan 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-2020-7941 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- plone (PyPI): affected from 4.3 up to 5.2.1; no fix listed
- plone (PyPI): affected from 4.3; fixed in 5.2.2
- Plone (PyPI): affected from 4.3 up to 5.2.1; no fix listed
- plone-app-contenttypes (PyPI): affected all versions; no fix listed
- plone-app-contenttypes (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.1.6
- plone.app.contenttypes (PyPI): affected all versions; no fix listed

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-2020-7941/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7941/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7941
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7941
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7941

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7941/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.