# CVE-2020-9301: Code injection in Netflix Spinnaker

> Authenticated attackers can exploit SpEL expression handling to read and write arbitrary files within the Spinnaker orca container.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Dec 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mgvh-5mj6-fprr

## What is CVE-2020-9301?

CVE-2020-9301 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Netflix Spinnaker, published on 11 Dec 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Nolan Ray from Apple Information Security identified a security vulnerability in Spinnaker, all versions prior to version 1.23.4, 1.22.4 or 1.21.5. The vulnerability exists within the handling of SpEL expressions that allows an attacker to read and write arbitrary files within the orca container via authenticated HTTP POST requests.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-9301?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linuxfoundation Spinnaker.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-9301?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-9301 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-9301 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9301 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Netflix Spinnaker

- [CVE-2026-32604](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32604/): Spinnaker: RCE when using gitrepo artifact types due to improper sanitization of user input on branch and paths (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-32613](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32613/): Spinnaker vulnerable to RCE via expression parsing due to unrestricted context handling (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-43832](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43832/): Improper Access Control in spinnaker (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-44795](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44795/): Spinnaker: Non-safe yaml deserialization allowing RCE when using specific types (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-61916](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-61916/): Spinnaker vulnerable to SSRF due to improper restrictions on http from user input (high 7.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-9301 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-9301 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Netflix Spinnaker, published on 11 Dec 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9301 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Netflix Spinnaker. 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-2020-9301/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9301/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-9301
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-9301
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-9301

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9301/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.