CVE-2011-1222
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedBuffer overflow in the Journal Based Backup (JBB) feature in the backup-archive client in IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) before 5.4.3.4, 5.5.x before 5.5.3, 6.x before 6.1.4, and 6.2.x before 6.2.2 on Windows and AIX allows local users to gain privileges via unspecified vectors.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the Journal Based Backup (JBB) feature of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client allows local users to execute arbitrary code or gain elevated privileges via specially crafted input to the JBB component.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 5.4.3.3= 4.2= 4.2.1= 5.1.8= 5.2.5.1= 5.2.7= 5.2.8= 5.2.9= 5.3.0= 5.3.1= 5.3.2= 5.3.3CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client versionRun 'dsmlic -v' or 'dsmc -v' from the client installation directory, or check the program's version property in the Windows registry under HKLM\Software\IBM\Tivoli\StorageManager\BackupArchive\CurrentVersionAffected if The displayed version matches any of these: 4.2, 4.2.1, 5.1.8, 5.2.5.1, 5.2.7, 5.2.8, 5.2.9, 5.3.0, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3, or is 5.4.3.3 or lower
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Verify whether Journal Based Backup (JBB) is enabledCheck the client options file (dsm.opt or dsm.sys) for the 'JBBEnabled' parameter or examine if the JBB service/process is running. On Windows, look for the 'IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Journal Based Backup' service.Affected if JBB is enabled or the JBB service is active on the system
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Confirm the client is the backup-archive component (not the server)Confirm the installed component is the backup-archive client (dsmc.exe) rather than the storage manager server (dsmserv.exe). Use 'dsmc query session' to verify client connectivity to a server.Affected if The component is the backup-archive client with an active configuration
You are affected if the installed backup-archive client version is one of the vulnerable versions AND the Journal Based Backup feature is enabled on the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade IBM Tivoli Storage Manager client to version 5.4.3.4 or later, 5.5.3 or later, 6.1.4 or later, or 6.2.2 or later depending on the current branch. This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability requiring authenticated local access.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-1222 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-1222 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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