Spectrum ScaleApplication · Ibm

CVE-2019-4715

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.0.4.0 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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 Spectrum Scale 4.2 and 5.0 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the system. By sending a specially-crafted request, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary commands on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 172093.

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 confidence

IBM Spectrum Scale versions 4.2 and 5.0 contain a command injection vulnerability that allows a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the system via specially-crafted requests. This is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) vulnerability that permits complete system compromise by an authenticated user.

MitigationApply the IBM fix for CVE-2019-4715 (contact IBM support for patch/pTF availability). Until patched, restrict network access to Spectrum Scale management interfaces to trusted IPs only and minimize the number of users with authenticated access.

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
Spectrum ScaleApplication
Affected:>= 4.2.0.0, <= 4.2.3.18>= 5.0.0.0, <= 5.0.4.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 installed IBM Spectrum Scale version
    Run 'mmgetversion' or check the installed package version via the package manager (e.g., 'rpm -qa | grep spectrum-scale' or 'lsrpm -i | grep spectrum-scale')
    Affected if The version output falls within 4.2.0.0 to 4.2.3.18 or 5.0.0.0 to 5.0.4.0
  2. Verify management interface accessibility
    Check if the Spectrum Scale management ports (typically 443, 8443, or configured GUI ports) are listening on network interfaces exposed to untrusted networks. Use 'netstat -tlnp' or 'ss -tlnp' to list listening services.
    Affected if Management interface ports are bound to 0.0.0.0 or otherwise reachable from untrusted networks
  3. Confirm authentication is required
    Review the authentication configuration for the management interface to verify that it requires valid credentials. Check if anonymous or default credentials are enabled.
    Affected if The management interface allows authentication with valid user credentials (this is required for exploitation, but also indicates exposure)
  4. Assess network exposure of management services
    Review firewall rules and network segmentation surrounding the Spectrum Scale cluster nodes. Check if management IPs are accessible from outside the trusted network.
    Affected if Management interfaces can be reached from networks outside the trusted administrative zone

You are affected if IBM Spectrum Scale version 4.2.0.0 through 4.2.3.18 or 5.0.0.0 through 5.0.4.0 is installed AND the management interface is network-accessible to untrusted users who possess valid credentials.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.0.4.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the IBM fix for CVE-2019-4715 (contact IBM support for patch/pTF availability). Until patched, restrict network access to Spectrum Scale management interfaces to trusted IPs only and minimize the number of users with authenticated access.

Fix this in Spectrum Scale Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

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 locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-4715 — 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-2019-4715 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