CVE-2020-10601
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 · uneditedVISAM VBASE Editor version 11.5.0.2 and VBASE Web-Remote Module allow weak hashing algorithm and insecure permissions which may allow a local attacker to bypass the password-protected mechanism through brute-force attacks, cracking techniques, or overwriting the password hash.
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 confidenceVISAM VBASE Editor version 11.5.0.2 and VBASE Web-Remote Module use a weak hashing algorithm for password storage combined with insecure file permissions. A local attacker can exploit this by brute-forcing the weak hash, using cracking techniques to recover plaintext passwords, or directly overwriting the password hash file to bypass authentication.
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= 11.5.0.2all versionsCVSS 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 VISAM VBASE product installationLocate and inspect the installed VISAM VBASE Editor or VBASE Web-Remote software and determine its exact version number. For VBASE Editor, verify if the version is exactly 11.5.0.2. For VBASE Web-Remote, note that all versions are affected.Affected if The installed version is VISAM VBASE Editor 11.5.0.2 or VISAM VBASE Web-Remote of any version.
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Locate password storage filesSearch the VISAM installation directory and associated configuration folders for files that store user password hashes. These may be named using terms like password, pass, hash, credentials, or users, or may have extensions such as .dat, .cfg, .xml, or .ini.Affected if Password hash files exist in the installation directory.
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Check file permissions on password storageInspect the file permissions on the identified password storage files. Use system commands (such as ls -l on Linux or icacls on Windows) to determine who has Read, Write, or Modify access to these files.Affected if The password storage file grants Write or Modify permissions to users other than authorized administrators.
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Verify weak hashing algorithm in useIf accessible, examine the password storage file or associated configuration to identify the hashing algorithm used. Look for indicators of weak algorithms such as MD5, SHA1 with insufficient salting, or other fast/computationally inexpensive hashing methods.Affected if The password storage uses a weak hashing algorithm such as MD5, SHA1, or another fast hash without proper salting.
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Test for authentication bypass via file modificationAs a controlled test (with appropriate authorization), attempt to create a backup of the password file and then replace or modify it to see if authentication behavior changes or can be bypassed.Affected if Modifying or replacing the password hash file allows authentication bypass or grants unauthorized access.
Your environment is affected if you have VISAM VBASE Editor version 11.5.0.2 or any version of VBASE Web-Remote installed, and the password storage files have insecure permissions or use weak hashing algorithms.
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 dataReplace the weak hashing algorithm with a modern, computationally expensive algorithm such as bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2, and enforce restrictive file permissions on password storage files to prevent unauthorized modification.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10601 — 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-2020-10601 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