`CVE-2020-15778` OpenSSH

Affected software	OpenSSH
Severity	7.8 High CVSS 3.1 3 scores
Weakness	OS command injection (CWE-78)
Published	24 Jul 2020
Updated	14 Oct 2026

Disputed. The record is tagged disputed: someone contests that the vulnerability exists. We still show our assessment, because the dispute is about whether the vulnerability exists, not whether Waratek can block it.

Description

scp in OpenSSH through 8.3p1 allows command injection in the scp.c toremote function, as demonstrated by backtick characters in the destination argument. NOTE: the vendor reportedly has stated that they intentionally omit validation of "anomalous argument transfers" because that could "stand a great chance of breaking existing workflows."

Exploitation status

Proof of concept only

A proof of concept exists, but no reviewed exploit catalogue lists this CVE.

CISA KEV not listed
VulnCheck KEV not listed
CISA Vulnrichment exploitation: poc CISA recorded that an exploit has been demonstrated. Automatable: no, technical impact: total.
Indexed PoC 4 indexed Published artifacts you can open, in GitHub PoC; first seen 2020-07-18.
EPSS 14% chance in 30 days A model's forecast, not a report of exploitation. Higher than 97% of all scored CVEs.

2 of these are GitHub repositories with fewer than 5 stars. They are listed for reference and don't count toward the exploitation status above.

Index	Artifact	Stars	First seen
GitHub PoC	cpandya2909/CVE-2020-15778	143	2020-07-18
GitHub PoC	Exploit for CVE-2020-15778(OpenSSH vul)	38	2021-07-15
GitHub PoC	yifanzhg/CVE-2020-15778	3	2023-09-27
GitHub PoC	This script is a safe and simple tool that helps system users, students, and administrators check if their SCP (Secure Copy) client is vulnerable to CVE-2020-15778, a command injection vulnerability in OpenSSH SCP (versions ≤ 8.3p1).	2	2025-07-28

Waratek protection

Outside Waratek scope

A Java vulnerability, but not one Waratek protects. It affects only Java on a user's desktop (applets, Web Start, JavaFX, the installer), sits in a product the Waratek agent can't be installed into, or is in a package we don't expect in business applications. The decision below says which.

Protection none
Action not pursued none
Review human Researcher
Record disputed disputed

Decided by	Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset
Finding	A manual classification set this CVE's status to Outside Waratek scope, but the CVE names a tracked product.

Decided by

Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset

Finding

A manual classification set this CVE's status to Outside Waratek scope, but the CVE names a tracked product.

CVSS

7.8 HIGH v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 3 metrics

We show the highest score from the newest CVSS version. Scores from different versions can't be compared, and the first score listed is sometimes a 0.0 placeholder.

Version Score Band Vector Assigner Type

CVSS 3.1 7.8 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CISA-ADP Secondary published

CVSS 3.1 7.4 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H NVD Primary

CVSS 2.0 6.8 none AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P NVD Primary

Version	Score	Band	Vector	Assigner	Type
CVSS 3.1	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`	CISA-ADP	Secondary	published
CVSS 3.1	7.4	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`	NVD	Primary
CVSS 2.0	6.8	none	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`	NVD	Primary

Affected software and releases

Oracle advisories

Advisory	Type	Quarter	Products Oracle names in its risk matrix
Oracle Critical Patch Update October 2024 ↗	CPU	2024-Q4	Oracle Communications / System (OpenSSH) (4.1.0)

Advisory

Type

Quarter

Products Oracle names in its risk matrix

Oracle Critical Patch Update October 2024 ↗

CPU

2024-Q4

Oracle Communications / System (OpenSSH) (4.1.0)

Oracle components and versions

Family	Component	Versions, as Oracle lists them	Read as
Oracle Communications	System (OpenSSH)	4.1.0	4.1.0

Family

Component

Versions, as Oracle lists them

Read as

Oracle Communications

System (OpenSSH)

4.1.0

Products and versions

9 products, 11 version entries

Source	Vendor	Product	Scheme	Affected versions
nvd	broadcom	fabric operating system	generic	any version
nvd	netapp	a700s firmware	generic	any version
nvd	netapp	active iq unified manager	generic	≥ 9.5
nvd	netapp	hci compute node	generic	any version
nvd	netapp	hci management node	generic	any version
nvd	netapp	hci storage node	generic	any version
nvd	netapp	solidfire	generic	any version
nvd	netapp	steelstore cloud integrated storage	generic	any version
nvd	openbsd	openssh	generic	8.3 · ＜ 8.3 · 8.3:p1

Source

Vendor

Product

Scheme

Affected versions

nvd

broadcom

fabric operating system

generic

any version

nvd

netapp

a700s firmware

generic

any version

nvd

netapp

active iq unified manager

generic

≥ 9.5

nvd

netapp

hci compute node

generic

any version

nvd

netapp

hci management node

generic

any version

nvd

netapp

hci storage node

generic

any version

nvd

netapp

solidfire

generic

any version

nvd

netapp

steelstore cloud integrated storage

generic

any version

nvd

openbsd

openssh

generic

8.3 · ＜ 8.3 · 8.3:p1

Earlier manual review

A reviewer classified this CVE in an older dataset. We kept the labels and products below, but not the reviewer's reasoning.

## Manual Classification Context **Products:** OPENSSH

References

URL	Tags
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:3166	Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/cpandya2909/CVE-2020-15778/	Exploit, Third Party Advisory
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25005567	Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202212-06	Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200731-0007/	Third Party Advisory
https://www.openssh.com/security.html	Vendor Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html

URL

Timeline

Published	2020-07-24	By the CVE Program.
NVD record modified	2026-10-14	NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Published

2020-07-24

By the CVE Program.

NVD record modified

2026-10-14

NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

How VRT decided (5 of 24 rules ran)

5 of 24 rules ran. The rest didn't run because an earlier rule had already settled the CVE.

# Rule Outcome Status Detail

identity: Does this identifier describe a vulnerability at all? the first rule that matches decides

1 rejected no match CVE Program withdrawal of this identifier

scope: Is it a vulnerability Waratek protects? the first rule that matches decides

2 armr-patch-file no match An ARMR patch file on disk for this CVE

3 armr-secure-rule-file no match An ARMR security-rule template on disk for this CVE

4 manual-classification no match A researcher's recorded decision for this specific CVE

5 manual classification decided it matched Outside Waratek scope Found in legacy manual classifications

6 non-java-upstream not reached A root cause in non-Java code: an OS kernel, a C library, or a bundled runtime

7 oracle-component not reached The defect being in a component of a tracked product the agent does not reach: JavaFX, the Java SE installer, the JInitiator browser plug-in, the native WebLogic proxy plug-in, or a native part of Oracle Application Server or Collaboration Suite (HTTP Server, Web Cache, Internet Directory, mail and calendar servers). Oracle gives these no CPE of their own and names them only in the description.

8 java-client-side not reached Oracle's own risk-matrix note saying the CVE is reached only through untrusted code in the Java sandbox (applets, Web Start) or only through a client installation of Java, so a server running its own trusted code is not exposed

9 osv-maven not reached An OSV.dev record of this CVE affecting a package published to Maven Central. When every such package is one business applications do not use (Minecraft mods and launchers, Fastjson) and no tracked product is named by CPE, it settles the CVE as Outside Waratek scope instead

10 cna-maven-package not reached An affected Maven artifact named by the CNA itself

11 known-cpe-product not reached An NVD CPE naming a product ARMR tracks

12 cna-cpe-product not reached A CPE the CNA published naming a tracked product. Oracle publishes these on advisory day, months before NVD.

13 oracle-advisory-family not reached A tracked product family named in Oracle's own risk matrix. CPE cannot carry a suite name, only a module.

14 cna-named-product not reached A tracked product named in words by the CVE's own CNA, on a record with no CPE yet. Apache and Eclipse publish these on advisory day, before NVD adds CPE data.

15 non-deployable-product not reached The only affected product being a sealed appliance image, where Java runs but no -javaagent can be attached

16 unmatched-product not reached No tracked product matched above, and none present at all

disposition: What do we do about one that is? every rule runs

17 patch-hint not reached A reference pointing at the upstream fix: a commit, a PR, a Red Hat bug

18 open-source-maven not reached The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read

19 poc-derivable not reached An indexed exploit clearing the evidence bar to reverse-engineer, where there is no source to read

20 no-exploit not reached Nothing to build a rule from yet: no published exploit, no CISA record of exploitation and no source-level change to read

21 secure-rule-match not reached A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule

22 exploited-no-fix-or-poc not reached Somebody exploiting this CVE (a CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, or a CISA verdict of active exploitation), with no fix, source code or PoC to build a rule from

23 below-action-threshold not reached Medium or Low severity, no CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, no PoC clearing the evidence bar, no CISA verdict, no Oracle advisory

24 no-exploit-published not reached Exploit code for this candidate, published in a reviewed catalogue or a GitHub repository with 5 or more stars, or in use per CISA or VulnCheck; not only a CISA verdict, a forecast, or nothing at all

NVD ↗ · CVE.org ↗