Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2020-5301


SimpleSAMLphp versions before 1.18.6 contain an information disclosure vulnerability. The module controller in `SimpleSAML\Module` that processes requests for pages hosted by modules, has code to identify paths ending with `.php` and process those as PHP code. If no other suitable way of handling the given path exists it presents the file to the browser. The check to identify paths ending with `.php` does not account for uppercase letters. If someone requests a path ending with e.g. `.PHP` and the server is serving the code from a case-insensitive file system, such as on Windows, the processing of the PHP code does not occur, and the source code is instead presented to the browser. An attacker may use this issue to gain access to the source code in third-party modules that is meant to be private, or even sensitive. However, the attack surface is considered small, as the attack will only work when SimpleSAMLphp serves such content from a file system that is not case-sensitive, such as on Windows. This issue is fixed in version 1.18.6.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a LOW severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 3.0, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met though user interaction is required requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts limited data confidentiality, for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from simplesamlphp organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2020-04-21T20:15:13.260

Last Modified

2026-06-17T03:21:14.140

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 3.0 (LOW)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: MEDIUM
  • Authentication: SINGLE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: NONE
  • Availability Impact: NONE
Exploitability Score

6.8

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-200
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-178

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application simplesamlphp simplesamlphp < 1.18.6 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For simplesamlphp's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.