CVE-2019-4606
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 DB2 High Performance Unload load for LUW 6.1 and 6.5 could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system, caused by an untrusted search path vulnerability. By using a executable file, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 168298.
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 DB2 High Performance Unload for LUW versions 6.1 and 6.5 contains an untrusted search path vulnerability that allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code by placing a malicious executable file in a directory that gets searched before the legitimate application binaries during the application launch process.
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= 5.1.0.0= 5.1.0.1= 6.1.0.0= 6.1.0.1= 6.1.0.2= 6.1.0.3= 6.5.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Verify IBM DB2 High Performance Unload installationSearch for the product installation directory. Common paths include /opt/ibm/db2hpu/ or C:\Program Files\IBM\DB2HPU\ on Windows. Look for executable files named db2hpu, db2hpu64, or similar.Affected if The product is found installed on the system
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Determine installed versionRun the product binary with version flag, such as 'db2hpu -version' or 'db2hpu -v', or check version information in the installation directory's manifest or version file.Affected if The displayed version matches 5.1.0.0, 5.1.0.1, 6.1.0.0, 6.1.0.1, 6.1.0.2, 6.1.0.3, or 6.5.0.0
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Check application PATH directoriesReview the system PATH environment variable and any application-specific PATH configuration. Identify directories that appear before the product installation directory in the search order.Affected if Any directory in the executable search path is writable by unprivileged users, allowing a local attacker to place a malicious executable
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Inspect application startup configurationExamine any configuration files, scripts, or launcher files that define the executable search path for the application. Look for references to relative paths or user-writable directories.Affected if The application uses relative paths or includes user-writable directories in its search order
The system is affected if IBM DB2 High Performance Unload is installed and the version matches one of the affected releases (5.1.0.0, 5.1.0.1, 6.1.0.0-6.1.0.3, or 6.5.0.0) with writable directories in the executable search path.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of IBM DB2 High Performance Unload. Additionally, secure application directories and system PATH by ensuring only privileged administrators can write to directories in the executable search path.
- 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-2019-4606 — 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-2019-4606 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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