What is CVE-2020-5231?

CVE-2020-5231 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apereo Opencast, classified under Improper Authorization. CVSS score: 4.8/10. Published 2020-01-30.

How severe is CVE-2020-5231?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.8 out of 10.

Auth bypass in Apereo Opencast

CVE-2020-5231

In Opencast before 7.6 and 8.1, users with the role ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN can use the user-utils endpoint to create new users not including the role ROLE_ADMIN. ROLE_COURSE_ADMIN is a non-standard role in Opencast which is referenced neither in the documentation nor in any code (except for tests) but only in the security configuration. From the name – implying an admin for a specific course – users would never expect that this role allows user creation. This issue is fixed in 7.6 and 8.1 which both ship a new default security configuration.

Published 2020-01-30 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.8 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.006 (48.0th percentile), scored 2026-10-01.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 48th percentile — 48.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.006 · newest: 0.006 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apereo Opencast — versions 8.0
Opencast — versions < 7.6, >= 8.0, < 8.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

github.com/opencast/opencast/security/advisories/GHSA-94qw-r73x-j7hg (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
github.com/opencast/opencast/commit/72fad0031d8a82c860e2bde0b27570c5042320ee (Patch)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-5231?: CVE-2020-5231 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apereo Opencast, classified under Improper Authorization. CVSS score: 4.8/10. Published 2020-01-30.
How severe is CVE-2020-5231?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.8 out of 10.