Bigfix PlatformApplication · Hcltech

CVE-2020-4095

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.5.15 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
"BigFix Platform is storing clear text credentials within the system's memory. An attacker who is able to gain administrative privileges can use a program to create a memory dump and extract the credentials. These credentials can be used to pivot further into the environment. The principle of least privilege should be applied to all BigFix deployments, limiting administrative access."

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

The BigFix Platform stores credentials in cleartext within system memory. An attacker with administrative privileges can create a memory dump and extract these plaintext credentials, potentially enabling lateral movement within the environment.

MitigationApply the principle of least privilege to limit administrative access to BigFix deployments; consider implementing memory protection mechanisms and ensuring proper access controls are in place.

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
Bigfix PlatformApplication
Affected:>= 9.2, <= 9.2.19>= 9.5, <= 9.5.15

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify BigFix Platform installation
    Check for BigFix installation by searching for the BigFix directory (typically under C:\Program Files\BigFix or /opt/BigFix) or by querying for the BigFix service using 'sc query' on Windows or 'ls /opt/BigFix' on Linux
    Affected if BigFix Platform is not installed on the system
  2. Identify installed BigFix version
    On Windows, check the version by inspecting the BESClient.exe or BESServer.exe file properties in the installation directory, or run 'BESServer.exe -version' if available. On Linux, check /opt/BigFix/BESServer/bin/BESServer -version
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or the BigFix server/client binaries are not found
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare your installed version number to the vulnerable ranges: 9.2.x versions from 9.2 through 9.2.19, and 9.5.x versions from 9.5 through 9.5.15 are affected
    Affected if The installed version falls within 9.2.0 through 9.2.19 or 9.5.0 through 9.5.15
  4. Confirm BigFix services are running
    Verify the BigFix services are active by checking running processes (BESClient, BESServer) or service status using 'sc query BESClient' on Windows or 'systemctl status besserver' on Linux
    Affected if The BigFix Platform services are currently running and operational

The system is affected if Hcltech BigFix Platform version 9.2.0 through 9.2.19 or 9.5.0 through 9.5.15 is installed with active services, and an attacker with administrative privileges could perform memory dumps to extract plaintext 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 9.5.15
Interim mitigation

Apply the principle of least privilege to limit administrative access to BigFix deployments; consider implementing memory protection mechanisms and ensuring proper access controls are in place.

Fix this in Bigfix Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,680.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4095 — 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-2020-4095 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