CVE-2019-4088
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 Spectrum Protect Servers 7.1 and 8.1 and Storage Agents could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the system, caused by loading a specially crafted library loaded by the dsmqsan module. By setting up such a library, a local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to gain root privileges on the vulnerable system. IBM X-Force ID: 157511.
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 confidenceIBM Spectrum Protect Servers 7.1/8.1 and Storage Agents contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the dsmqsan module. A local attacker with low-privilege access can place a specially crafted malicious library in a location where dsmqsan will load it, achieving root privileges on the system.
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>= 7.1.0.000, <= 7.1.9.200>= 8.1.0.000, <= 8.1.7.000CVSS 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:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IBM Spectrum Protect versionRun 'dsmcmd -version' or check installation directory for version file. Also check /opt/tivoli/tsm for installation path and examine version.info or VERSION fileAffected if Version falls within 7.1.0.000-7.1.9.200 or 8.1.0.000-8.1.7.000
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Locate dsmqsan moduleSearch for dsmqsan file using 'find / -name dsmqsan* 2>/dev/null' or check in TSM installation directories under /opt/tivoli/tsmAffected if dsmqsan module exists on the system (this is the vulnerable component)
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Check library loading directories for dsmqsanUse 'ldd /path/to/dsmqsan' to see library dependencies and identify library search paths. Check /opt/tivoli/tsm/dsmqsan directory or paths shown in ldd outputAffected if dsmqsan loads libraries from writable directories accessible to low-privilege users
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Inspect library directories for unauthorized filesList all .so or .a files in dsmqsan library directories. Check for unexpected or recently added library files that could be maliciousAffected if Unexpected library files exist in dsmqsan library directories or those directories are writable by non-root users
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Verify file permissions on library directoriesRun 'ls -la' on directories where dsmqsan loads libraries from. Check owner, group, and permissions (mode)Affected if Library directories have weak permissions allowing low-privilege users to write or add files
A user is affected if they have IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center version within the affected ranges AND the dsmqsan module is present AND library directories have permissive write access allowing unauthorized library injection.
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 IBM's patches for this vulnerability (contact IBM support for specific fix packages). If patching is not immediately feasible, remove or rename the dsmqsan module and restrict file permissions on library directories to prevent unauthorized library placement.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-4088 — 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-2019-4088 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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