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Business WarehouseApplication · Sap

CVE-2020-26838

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
97/100
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
SAP Business Warehouse, versions - 700, 701, 702, 731, 740, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 782, and SAP BW4HANA, versions - 100, 200 allows an attacker authenticated with (high) developer privileges to submit a crafted request to generate and execute code without requiring any user interaction. It is possible to craft a request which will result in the execution of Operating System commands leading to Code Injection vulnerability which could completely compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the server and any data or other applications running on it.

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

A code injection vulnerability in SAP Business Warehouse allows authenticated users with developer privileges to submit crafted requests that execute arbitrary operating system commands, completely compromising server confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationRestrict developer-level privileges to minimum necessary personnel, apply SAP security patches for affected versions (700-755, 782, BW4HANA 100/200), and implement additional access controls around the vulnerable functionality.

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
Business WarehouseApplication
Affected:= 700= 701= 702= 731= 740= 750= 751= 752= 753= 754= 755= 782
Bw\/4hanaApplication
Affected:= 100= 200

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 SAP BW installation version
    Log into SAP and execute transaction code SM51 to view the SAP system version. Alternatively, use transaction RSA1 and navigate to System > Info to display the BW version. In SAP BW/4HANA, check via SAP HANA Studio or the BW/4HANA Cockpit under System > Configuration.
    Affected if The installed version matches 700, 701, 702, 731, 740, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, or 782 for SAP Business Warehouse, or version 100 or 200 for SAP BW/4HANA.
  2. Check user role assignments for developer privileges
    Execute transaction code SU01 to view user details, then check the Roles tab. Alternatively, use transaction PFCG (Role Maintenance) to inspect roles assigned to the user. Look for roles containing SAP_BW_DEVELOPER, SAP_BW_DATA_MART_ADMIN, or custom developer roles in the BW namespace.
    Affected if The user account has roles granting developer-level privileges in SAP BW.
  3. Verify access to BW Developer Objects
    Execute transaction code RSRT (Query Monitor) or SE80 (Object Navigator) and attempt to access BW development objects such as DataSources, Transformations, or DTP. In BW/4HANA, check access via the BW Modeling Tools in Eclipse.
    Affected if The user can create, modify, or execute BW objects that involve backend processing.
  4. Inspect BW authorization profiles
    Execute transaction code SUIM (User Information System) and search for authorization objects with object class BW (S_RS_*, S_BI_WHM_*, S_BI_RS*). Check if the user has authorization for RS_BICS_PROV or similar BW-specific authorization objects that enable command execution contexts.
    Affected if The authorization profile contains BW developer-level authorization objects enabling the vulnerable code injection pathway.

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable SAP BW/BW/4HANA version (700-755, 782, or BW/4HANA 100/200) AND have developer privileges that provide access to BW development and execution functionality.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict developer-level privileges to minimum necessary personnel, apply SAP security patches for affected versions (700-755, 782, BW4HANA 100/200), and implement additional access controls around the vulnerable functionality.

Recommended fix High confidence

SAP BW 7.50+ with corresponding SAP Security Note applied, or SAP BW4HANA 2.0 SP02 or higher

  1. 1. Obtain the relevant SAP Security Note from the SAP Support Portal (launchpad.support.sap.com) for CVE-2020-26838
  2. 2. Review the security note to identify the specific patch or correction required for your SAP Business Warehouse or BW4HANA version
  3. 3. Download the required SAP kernel updates, ABAP patches, or component updates as specified in the security note
  4. 4. Schedule a maintenance window and back up your SAP system completely before applying patches
  5. 5. Apply the SAP Security Note using SAP Transport Management System (TMS) or manual implementation as directed in the note
  6. 6. Restart affected SAP services/components as required by the patch installation
  7. 7. Verify the patch was applied successfully by checking the SAP system version and confirming the security note status in SAP Solution Manager
  8. 8. Test critical Business Warehouse functions to ensure normal operation after patching
Caveat Review SAP Security Note for any prerequisites, dependent patches, or configuration changes required - some patches may require kernel upgrades or dependent component updates

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

Fix this in Business Warehouse Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
48.0 hours of engineering $8,320
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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-2020-26838 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