CVE-2020-11846
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 · uneditedA vulnerability found in OpenText Privileged Access Manager that issues a token. on successful issuance of the token, a cookie gets set that allows unrestricted access to all the application resources. This issue affects Privileged Access Manager before 3.7.0.1.
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 confidenceOpenText Privileged Access Manager issues a token that sets a cookie providing unrestricted access to all application resources. This authentication/authorization bypass affects versions prior to 3.7.0.1, allowing authenticated or potentially unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive privileged account functions.
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< 3.7= 3.7CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 NetIQ PAM versionAccess the admin console or use the product's CLI/API to retrieve the installed version number. Common locations: about page in web UI, version command in CLI, or version file in installation directory.Affected if Version is displayed as lower than 3.7.0.1 (including any 3.x version below 3.7.0.1, or exactly version 3.7)
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Compare against vulnerable version rangeCross-reference the identified version with the known affected versions: any build < 3.7.0.1, or build exactly equal to 3.7.Affected if Installed version falls in the range < 3.7 or = 3.7
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Verify authentication mechanismReview PAM configuration for token-based authentication settings. Examine whether the system uses the legacy token issuance method that was identified as vulnerable.Affected if Legacy token authentication is in use and version is within vulnerable range
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Inspect access logs for anomaliesReview authentication and session logs for unusual access patterns, especially successful accesses from unexpected sources or times that may indicate exploitation of this authorization bypass.Affected if Suspicious privileged access events are found and version is vulnerable
The environment is affected if NetIQ Privileged Access Manager is running any version below 3.7.0.1, including version 3.7 exactly.
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.
dbcve · scoped3.7
Upgrade to Privileged Access Manager version 3.7.0.1 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
3.7.0.1
- 1. Check the current installed version of NetIQ/OpenText Privileged Access Manager
- 2. Review the upgrade documentation and release notes for version 3.7.0.1
- 3. Ensure you have a valid backup of the current configuration
- 4. Download Privileged Access Manager version 3.7.0.1 or later from the official vendor portal
- 5. Execute the upgrade following the vendor's documented upgrade procedure
- 6. Verify the installation was successful and the application is functioning correctly
- 7. Confirm the version number reflects the upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11846 — 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-2020-11846 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data