# CVE-2020-9489: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in Apache Tika

> Crafted or corrupt files can cause infinite loops, out-of-memory errors, or system exits in Apache Tika parsers, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-9489, GHSA-4pv3-63jw-4jw2, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-9489

## What is CVE-2020-9489?

CVE-2020-9489 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Oracle Flexcube Private Banking, published on 27 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A carefully crafted or corrupt file may trigger a System.exit in Tika's OneNote Parser. Crafted or corrupted files can also cause out of memory errors and/or infinite loops in Tika's ICNSParser, MP3Parser, MP4Parser, SAS7BDATParser, OneNoteParser and ImageParser. Apache Tika users should upgrade to 1.24.1 or later. The vulnerabilities in the MP4Parser were partially fixed by upgrading the com.googlecode:isoparser:1.1.22 dependency to org.tallison:isoparser:1.9.41.2. For unrelated security reasons, we upgraded org.apache.cxf to 3.3.6 as part of the 1.24.1 release.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-9489?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.tika:tika. It affects 5 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.apache.tika:tika` | Maven | All versions | 1.24.1 |
| `org.apache.tika:tika` | Maven | All versions | 1.24.1 |

Products: Apache Tika, Oracle Communications Messaging Server, Oracle Flexcube Private Banking, Oracle Primavera Unifier, Oracle Webcenter Portal.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-9489?

Upgrade org.apache.tika:tika to 1.24.1 or later.

## Is CVE-2020-9489 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9489 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Oracle Flexcube Private Banking

- [CVE-2019-10088](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10088/): Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in Apache Tika (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-66516](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-66516/): Apache Tika has XXE vulnerability (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2025-54988](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54988/): Apache Tika PDF parser module: XXE vulnerability in PDFParser's handling of XFA (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2018-1335](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1335/): Command injection in org.apache.tika:tika-core (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2019-10094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10094/): Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in Apache Tika (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-9489 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-9489 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Oracle Flexcube Private Banking, published on 27 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9489 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.apache.tika:tika (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 1.24.1
- org.apache.tika:tika (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 1.24.1

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-2020-9489/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9489/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-9489
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-9489
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-9489

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9489/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.