Bigfix Remote ControlApplication · Ibm

CVE-2016-2948

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-11-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
IBM BigFix Remote Control before 9.1.3 allows local users to discover hardcoded credentials 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 · moderate confidence

IBM BigFix Remote Control versions prior to 9.1.3 contain hardcoded credentials embedded in the software or configuration. Local users with system access can discover these credentials through unspecified vectors, potentially allowing unauthorized access or privilege escalation within the Remote Control system.

MitigationUpgrade to IBM BigFix Remote Control 9.1.3 or later which removes the hardcoded credentials. Additionally, audit logs for any unauthorized access using these credentials and change any affected credentials as a precautionary measure.

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
Bigfix Remote ControlApplication
Affected:= 9.1.2

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed IBM BigFix Remote Control version
    Use the system's package manager or software inventory to determine the exact version number of IBM BigFix Remote Control installed
    Affected if The installed version is 9.1.2 exactly
  2. Locate IBM BigFix Remote Control configuration files
    Search for configuration files associated with the installation, typically in the application installation directory or config folders
    Affected if Hardcoded credentials are found in any configuration files or the software binary itself
  3. Check for embedded credentials in the installation
    Examine the application directory for any files containing hardcoded usernames and passwords used by the Remote Control system
    Affected if Default or hardcoded credentials exist that were not set by the administrator
  4. Review user accounts in the Remote Control system
    List all user accounts configured within the IBM BigFix Remote Control application and identify any that appear to be system-generated rather than manually created
    Affected if There are accounts present that were not created by an administrator and may be the hardcoded credentials mentioned in the CVE

You are affected if IBM BigFix Remote Control version 9.1.2 is installed and hardcoded credentials are found in the software or its configuration files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to IBM BigFix Remote Control 9.1.3 or later which removes the hardcoded credentials. Additionally, audit logs for any unauthorized access using these credentials and change any affected credentials as a precautionary measure.

Fix this in Bigfix Remote Control Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2948 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-2948 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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