CVE-2020-5741 (GCVE-0-2020-5741)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2020-05-08 12:02 – Updated: 2025-10-21 23:35Summary
Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Plex Media Server on Windows allows a remote, authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary Python code.
Severity
7.2 (High)
SSVC
Exploitation: active
Automatable: no
Technical Impact: total
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2025-02-06 20:28 UTC
CWE
- Authenticated Remote Python Deserialization
- CWE-502 - Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Assigner
References
3 references
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2020-32 | x_refsource_MISC |
| http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158470/Plex-… | x_refsource_MISC |
| https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilit… | government-resource |
Impacted products
1 product
| Vendor | Product | Version | |
|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | Plex Media Server (Windows) |
Affected:
Versions prior to 1.19.3
|
CISA
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: 6ad1000b-9dac-4fc9-9a34-679a8741e042
Exploited: Yes
Timestamps
First Seen: 2023-03-10
Asserted: 2023-03-10
Scope
Notes: Plex Media Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Affected: Plex / Media Server | Description: Plex Media Server contains a remote code execution vulnerability that allows an attacker with access to the server administrator's Plex account to upload a malicious file via the Camera Upload feature and have the media server execute it. | Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions. | Due date: 2023-03-31 | Known ransomware campaign use (KEV): Unknown | Notes (KEV): https://forums.plex.tv/t/security-regarding-cve-2020-5741/586819; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5741
Evidence
Type: Vendor Report
Signal: Successful Exploitation
Confidence: 80%
Source: cisa-kev
Details
| Cwes | CWE-502 |
|---|---|
| Feed | CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog |
| Product | Media Server |
| Due Date | 2023-03-31 |
| Date Added | 2023-03-10 |
| Vendorproject | Plex |
| Vulnerabilityname | Plex Media Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability |
| Knownransomwarecampaignuse | Unknown |
References
Created: 2026-10-02 08:09 CEST
| Updated: 2026-10-02 08:09 CEST
Previdian
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: d5574cda-8a94-4f78-8e83-06654f6b43ff
Exploited: Yes
Timestamps
First Seen: 2023-03-10
Asserted: 2023-03-10
Scope
Notes: Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Plex Media Server on Windows allows a remote, authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary Python code. | Affected: Plex / Plex Media Server (Windows) | CVSS: 7.2 (HIGH) | EPSS: 0.72936 | Used in malware: unknown | Not yet in CISA KEV: False
Evidence
Type: Public Report
Signal: Successful Exploitation
Confidence: 70%
Source: previdian
Details
| Feed | Previdian (previdian.com) |
|---|---|
| Title | Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Plex Media Server on Windows allows a remote, authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary Python code. |
| Cve Id | CVE-2020-5741 |
| Vendor | Plex |
| Ghsa Id | None |
| Product | Plex Media Server (Windows) |
| Added Date | 2023-03-10T00:00:00.000Z |
| Cvss Score | 7.2 |
| Epss Score | 0.72936 |
| Previous Ids | |
| Cvss Severity | HIGH |
| Virtual Patch | False |
| Cvss Estimated | False |
| Epss Percentile | 0.99439 |
| Used In Malware | unknown |
| Vulnerability Id | CVE-2020-5741 |
| Ahead Of Cisa Kev | None |
| Not Yet In Cisa Kev | False |
References
Created: 2026-10-02 09:11 CEST
| Updated: 2026-10-02 09:11 CEST
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Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the
vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base
model, served locally by ML-Gateway.
They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
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Related by attack behaviour
Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.
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