dbcve.org
StealthApplication · Unisys

CVE-2020-12053

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.026 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
In Unisys Stealth 3.4.x, 4.x and 5.x before 5.0.026, if certificate-based authorization is used without HTTPS, an endpoint could be authorized without a private key.

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 · moderate confidence

Unisys Stealth contains an authentication bypass vulnerability where certificate-based authorization can be bypassed when HTTPS is not enforced. An attacker could gain unauthorized endpoint authorization without possessing the corresponding private key, effectively negating the security guarantees of certificate-based authentication.

MitigationUpgrade Unisys Stealth to version 5.0.026 or later, and ensure certificate-based authorization is used exclusively with HTTPS to prevent the bypass.

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
StealthApplication
Affected:>= 3.4, < 5.0.026

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 Unisys Stealth version
    Locate the installed Unisys Stealth version using the product's administrative console, registry, or version information command provided by the product documentation. Common locations include the main Stealth service panel or the program files directory.
    Affected if The installed version is >= 3.4 AND < 5.0.026
  2. Confirm certificate-based authorization is configured
    Access the Unisys Stealth administration interface and verify whether certificate-based authentication/authorization is enabled for any endpoints or services. Check the authentication settings panel for certificate-based auth rules.
    Affected if Certificate-based authorization is actively configured or enabled for endpoints
  3. Determine if HTTPS is enforced for certificate auth
    Inspect the Unisys Stealth configuration settings for the certificate-based authorization module. Verify whether the transport security setting requires HTTPS (TLS/SSL) for certificate-based authentication exchanges. Check if there is an option to enforce HTTPS and whether it is enabled or disabled.
    Affected if HTTPS is NOT enforced (disabled, optional, or not configured) for certificate-based authorization traffic
  4. Verify network listener configuration
    Review the network listener or endpoint configuration in Stealth to determine which protocols (HTTP vs HTTPS) are bound to the certificate-based authentication module. Check for plaintext HTTP listeners accepting certificate-based auth connections.
    Affected if The configuration allows certificate-based authentication over plain HTTP (port 80 or unencrypted channels)

The environment is affected if Unisys Stealth version is between 3.4 and 5.0.026 (exclusive) AND certificate-based authorization is enabled with HTTP transport available or HTTPS not enforced.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.0.026 or later
Fixed in 5.0.026
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Unisys Stealth to version 5.0.026 or later, and ensure certificate-based authorization is used exclusively with HTTPS to prevent the bypass.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Unisys Stealth version 5.0.026 or later

  1. 1. Identify all Unisys Stealth deployments in the environment and note their current versions.
  2. 2. For each Stealth instance, check if it is running version 3.4.x, 4.x, or any 5.x version prior to 5.0.026.
  3. 3. Review configurations to identify which endpoints use certificate-based authorization.
  4. 4. Plan an upgrade to version 5.0.026 or later for all affected installations.
  5. 5. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first to verify compatibility.
  6. 6. Apply the upgrade to production systems.
  7. 7. After upgrading, verify that certificate-based authorization now properly requires the private key and that HTTPS is enforced where certificate authentication is used.
Caveat As with any software upgrade, test thoroughly in a non-production environment before deploying to production

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Stealth Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

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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-2020-12053 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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