CVE-2016-0235
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 Security Guardium Database Activity Monitor 10 allows local users to have unspecified impact by leveraging administrator access to a hardcoded password, related to use on GRUB systems. IBM X-Force ID: 110326.
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 Security Guardium Database Activity Monitor 10 contains a hardcoded password that can be exploited by local users with administrator access on systems using GRUB bootloader. The vulnerability allows local privilege escalation or unauthorized access through the hardcoded credential, rated high severity (CVSS 8.2).
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= 10.0CVSS 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
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 Guardium DAM installation and versionRun version detection command for IBM Security Guardium Database Activity Monitor (e.g., guardium_version command, rpm/dpkg query, or check installation directories)Affected if Installed version equals exactly 10.0 (version 10.0 specifically listed as affected)
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Determine if GRUB bootloader is in useCheck system bootloader configuration (examine /boot/grub/grub.conf, /boot/grub2/grub.cfg, or run 'grub2-mkconfig' or 'grub-mkconfig' to verify GRUB is the active bootloader)Affected if GRUB bootloader is present and active on the system (GRUB required for this vulnerability to be exploitable)
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Locate Guardium configuration files containing credentialsSearch Guardium installation directories for configuration files with stored passwords (look for encrypted or plaintext credential storage in Guardium config paths)Affected if Hardcoded password credentials are found in Guardium configuration files or related scripts
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Verify local administrator access controlsReview system user accounts and administrator group membership to determine if untrusted local users could have administrator-level accessAffected if Local users with administrator privileges exist who should not have elevated access
System is affected if running IBM Security Guardium Database Activity Monitor version 10.0 with GRUB bootloader enabled and hardcoded credentials present in Guardium configuration, allowing local privilege escalation.
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 dataApply vendor patch from IBM for Guardium DAM 10; rotate any exposed credentials; ensure GRUB is password-protected and restrict physical access to affected systems to prevent local exploitation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0235 — 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-2016-0235 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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