CVE-2011-3124
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 · uneditedIBM InfoSphere Information Server 8.5 and 8.5.0.1 on Unix and Linux, as used in IBM InfoSphere DataStage 8.5 and 8.5.0.1 and other products, assigns incorrect ownership to unspecified files, which allows local users to gain privileges via unknown 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 · moderate confidenceIBM InfoSphere Information Server 8.5 and 8.5.0.1 on Unix/Linux incorrectly assigns ownership to unspecified files, allowing local users to escalate privileges by exploiting these misowned files.
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= 8.5= 8.5.0.1= 8.5= 8.5.0.1CVSS 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 InfoSphere installation and versionRun 'dsjob -version' or check for /opt/IBM/InformationServer directory. Look for version 8.5 or 8.5.0.1 in installation logs or version files.Affected if The installed version is exactly 8.5 or 8.5.0.1 on Unix/Linux systems.
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Locate the InfoSphere installation directoryCommon paths include /opt/IBM/InformationServer or /opt/IS. Use 'find /opt -name "InfoSphere" -type d 2>/dev/null' to locate.Affected if InfoSphere is installed in any directory on Unix/Linux.
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Audit file ownership in the installation directoryRun 'ls -la <install_dir>' and 'find <install_dir> -ls' to list all files and their owners. Look for files owned by non-privileged users that should be owned by root or system service accounts.Affected if Files within the InfoSphere installation are owned by unprivileged users or incorrect owners, allowing modification for privilege escalation.
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Check for world-writable files with service account ownershipRun 'find <install_dir> -perm -002 -ls' to find world-writable files. Identify if any such files are executable scripts or configuration files that could be exploited.Affected if World-writable executable scripts or configuration files exist within the installation that could be modified for privilege escalation.
You are affected if you have IBM InfoSphere Information Server or Datastage version 8.5 or 8.5.0.1 installed on Unix/Linux and files within the installation directory have incorrect ownership that permits local user modification.
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 dataIdentify files with incorrect ownership permissions within the InfoSphere installation directory and correct ownership to appropriate system users/groups, or upgrade to a patched version if available.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3124 — 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-2011-3124 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data