NVD / CVE Program· CNA puppet

CVE-2020-7942: Previously, Puppet operated on a model that a node with a valid certificate was entitled to all information in the system and that a comprom

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.80% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 56.5% of all records.
Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: puppet (RubyGems) 6.13.0, 5.5.19; puppet (SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Advanced Systems Management 12) 3.8.5-15.12.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to puppet (RubyGems) 6.13.0, 5.5.19; puppet (SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Advanced Systems Management 12) 3.8.5-15.12.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Previously, Puppet operated on a model that a node with a valid certificate was entitled to all information in the system and that a compromised certificate allowed access to everything in the infrastructure. When a node's catalog falls back to the `default` node, the catalog can be retrieved for a different node by modifying facts for the Puppet run. This issue can be mitigated by setting `strict_hostname_checking = true` in `puppet.conf` on your Puppet master. Puppet 6.13.0 and 5.5.19 changes the default behavior for strict_hostname_checking from false to true. It is recommended that Puppet Open Source and Puppet Enterprise users that are not upgrading still set strict_hostname_checking to true to ensure secure behavior. Affected software versions: Puppet 6.x prior to 6.13.0 Puppet Agent 6.x prior to 6.13.0 Puppet 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19 Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19 Resolved in: Puppet 6.13.0 Puppet Agent 6.13.0 Puppet 5.5.19 Puppet Agent 5.5.19

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Weak crypto

Published: Feb 19, 2020
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
EPSS: 0.8% · 56th percentile
CWE: CWE-295

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 0.8%

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Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
No public exploit code on record
A fix has been released

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
puppet	puppet	cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet
puppet	puppet agent	cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_agent

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This vulnerability is about certificate validation or weak cryptography. The free SSL checker tests your certificate, enabled TLS versions and weak ciphers.

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Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

puppet puppet5.5.0 and later · before 5.5.19
puppet puppet6.0.0 and later · before 6.13.0
puppet puppet agent5.5.0 and later · before 5.5.19
puppet puppet agent6.0.0 and later · before 6.13.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (puppet). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

Puppet Puppet
- 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19, Fixed in 5.5.19, 6.x prior to 6.13.0, Fixed in 6.13.0affected
Puppet Puppet Agent
- 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19, Fixed in 5.5.19, 6.x prior to 6.13.0, Fixed in 6.13.0affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Debian:11	puppet	from 0	—
RubyGems	puppet	from 6.0.0 · before 6.13.0	6.13.0
RubyGems	puppet	before 5.5.19	5.5.19
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Advanced Systems Management 12	puppet	before 3.8.5-15.12.1	3.8.5-15.12.1

Same product

puppet: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2016-2785Puppet Server before 2.3.2 and Ruby puppetmaster in Puppet 4.x before 4.4.2 and in Puppet Agent before 1.4.2 might allow remote attackers to
40Plan
CVE-2013-1640The (1) template and (2) inline_template functions in the master server in Puppet before 2.6.18, 2.7.x before 2.7.21, and 3.1.x before 3.1.1
37Monitor
CVE-2021-27021A flaw was discovered in Puppet DB, this flaw results in an escalation of privileges which allows the user to delete tables via an SQL query
35Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2018-6514Jun 11, 2018 · In Puppet Agent 1.10.x prior to 1.10.13, Puppet Agent 5.3.x prior to 5.3.7, Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.2, Facter on Windows is vulnerab
31Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2018-6515Jun 11, 2018 · Puppet Agent 1.10.x prior to 1.10.13, Puppet Agent 5.3.x prior to 5.3.7, and Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.2 on Windows only, with a speci
31Monitor
Later →CVE-2021-27022Sep 7, 2021 · A flaw was discovered in bolt-server and ace where running a task with sensitive parameters results in those sensitive parameters being logg
19Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
RubyGems:puppet	5.5.19	Package registry (OSV)
RubyGems:puppet	6.13.0	Package registry (OSV)
suse:puppet	3.8.5-15.12.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Advanced Systems Management 12	Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
A low-privileged account is enough.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: none
Availability: none

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: None
Availability impact: None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-295 · Improper Certificate Validation

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Root cause

A certificate validation error is silently swallowed instead of terminating the connection. Often, code added for a test environment makes its way into production.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-295 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

kotlin

1override fun checkServerTrusted(chain: Array<X509Certificate>, type: String) {
2  // Left empty for the test environment
3}

Fixed

kotlin

1val client = OkHttpClient.Builder()
2  .certificatePinner(
3    CertificatePinner.Builder()
4      .add("api.sirius.example", "sha256/…")
5      .build()
6  ).build()

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

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References

puppet.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-7942/

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records