CVE-2020-12845: Cherokee 0.4.27 to 1.2.104 is affected by a denial of service due to a NULL pointer dereferences

This week

HIGH 7.5REMOTEUPGRADE

CVE-2020-12845 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) affecting cherokee. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

Cherokee 0.4.27 to 1.2.104 is affected by a denial of service due to a NULL pointer dereferences. A remote unauthenticated attacker can crash the server by sending an HTTP request to protected resources using a malformed Authorization header that is mishandled during a cherokee_buffer_add call within cherokee_validator_parse_basic or cherokee_validator_parse_digest.

Why this priority

High severity
Public exploit reference
Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

A fixed release or distro patch exists.

Risk facts

CVSS score	7.5 (High)
Attack vector	Network (remote)
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	3.2% (top 12%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-476
Published	2020-07-27
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: cherokee-project

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2020-07-27 23:15 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 02:52 UTCUpdated Record last modified

cherokee-project cherokee UPGRADE

Affected: >= 0.4.27 and <= 1.2.104

Fixed in: newer than 1.2.104

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 0.4.27

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy cherokee || rpm -q cherokee || cherokee --version

2. UPGRADE to newer than 1.2.104 (Debian / Ubuntu)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade cherokee

2. UPGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

sudo dnf upgrade cherokee

Note

Distros often backport fixes without changing the version number. Confirm with the distro advisory or changelog.

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE to a release before 0.4.27 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison cherokee sudo apt install cherokee=<VERSION_BEFORE_0.4.27> sudo apt-mark hold cherokee

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list cherokee sudo dnf downgrade cherokee-<VERSION_BEFORE_0.4.27> sudo dnf versionlock add cherokee

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2020-12845?

cherokee: upgrade to newer than 1.2.104. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2020-12845 being exploited?

CVE-2020-12845 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2020-12845 affect?

CVE-2020-12845 affects cherokee. Severity is high (CVSS 7.5). Cherokee 0.4.27 to 1.2.104 is affected by a denial of service due to a NULL pointer dereferences. A remote unauthenticated attacker can crash the server by sending an HTTP request to protected resources using a malformed Authorization heade

How urgent is CVE-2020-12845?

Priority 58/100. High severity; Public exploit reference; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

Related CVEs

CVE-2019-20800 CRITICAL 9.8 UPGRADE In Cherokee through 1.2.104, remote attackers can trigger an out-of-bounds write in cherokee_handler_cgi_add_e
CVE-2019-20799 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE In Cherokee through 1.2.104, multiple memory corruption errors may be used by a remote attacker to destabilize
CVE-2019-20798 HIGH 8.4 UPGRADE An XSS issue was discovered in handler_server_info.c in Cherokee through 1.2.104

References

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