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No exploitation reported

CVE-2019-20478

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2020-02-19

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

In ruamel.yaml through 0.16.7, the load method allows remote code execution if the application calls this method with an untrusted argument. In other words, this issue affects developers who are unaware of the need to use methods such as safe_load in these use cases.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2020-02-1904:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-20478?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-20478?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Ruamel.yaml project ruamel.yaml
BranchAffectedFixed in
0.16≤ 0.16.7no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

No fix published by the sources we read yet. NVD record

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • NVDCVSS 3.19.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.010read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score6.8 %2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2020-02-19
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-20478?

In ruamel.yaml through 0.16.7, the load method allows remote code execution if the application calls this method with an untrusted argument. In other words, this issue affects developers who are unaware of the need to use methods such as safe_load in these use cases.

Is CVE-2019-20478 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-20478 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 6.8% on 2026-10-23, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-20478?

CVE-2019-20478 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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Surveillance reads the versions in your stack — a domain, a lockfile or a list — checks each CVE against the ranges its sources publish, and alerts you when one you run is exploited or enters CISA KEV. A version it cannot read stays « version not verified ».

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