CVE-2016-8939
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 Tivoli Storage Manager (IBM Spectrum Protect 7.1 and 8.1) clients/agents store password information in the Windows Registry in a manner which can be compromised. IBM X-Force ID: 118790.
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 Tivoli Storage Manager (Spectrum Protect 7.1 and 8.1) clients and agents store password credentials in the Windows Registry using an insecure method that can be compromised by local attackers to recover sensitive password information.
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= 6.1= 6.1.0= 6.1.1= 6.1.2= 6.1.3= 6.1.4= 6.1.5= 6.1.5.4= 6.1.5.5= 6.1.5.6= 6.2.0= 6.2.1CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 installed IBM Tivoli Storage Manager or Spectrum Protect versionOpen Windows Control Panel, Programs and Features, and look for 'IBM Tivoli Storage Manager' or 'IBM Spectrum Protect' entry to see the installed version. Alternatively, run 'dsmc -version' from the command line if the client binary is in the PATH.Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: 6.1, 6.1.0, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.5.4, 6.1.5.5, 6.1.5.6, 6.2.0, or 6.2.1
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Locate the Windows Registry keys used for credential storageOpen Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Tivoli\StorageManager\Client\Configuration or similar paths under the IBM TSM registry hive where authentication settings are stored.Affected if Registry keys containing password or credential data exist under the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager registry hierarchy
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Verify if password credentials are stored in plain text or insecure formatWithin the identified registry locations, examine string values for fields that may contain passwords, passphrases, or encoded credential data. Look for named values such as 'Password', 'PASSWORD', 'Credential', or similar.Affected if Password or credential data is present in registry values in plaintext or a reversible format
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Check file system for configuration files storing credentialsNavigate to the TSM client install directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\ or C:\Program Files\IBM\Spectrum Protect\) and examine config files such as dsm.opt, dsm.sys, or client options files for embedded credentials.Affected if Configuration files contain stored password or authentication token data
A system is affected if IBM Tivoli Storage Manager or Spectrum Protect client version 6.1.x or 6.2.x is installed and stores password credentials in the Windows Registry without secure encryption.
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 dataImplement secure credential storage mechanisms such as Windows Credential Manager; apply vendor patches when available; review registry permissions to limit exposure.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8939 — 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-2016-8939 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