dbcve.org
Security Siteprotector SystemApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-4150

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
IBM SiteProtector Appliance 3.1.1 contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key, which it uses for its own inbound authentication, outbound communication to external components, or encryption of internal data. IBM X-Force ID: 174142.

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

IBM SiteProtector Appliance 3.1.1 contains hard-coded credentials (passwords or cryptographic keys) embedded in the firmware or software. These credentials are used for multiple functions including inbound authentication to the appliance, outbound communication with external components, and encryption of internal data. An attacker who discovers these credentials (through reverse engineering, default configurations, or other means) can potentially authenticate to the system, intercept communications, or decrypt sensitive data without detection.

MitigationImmediately rotate all hard-coded credentials to unique, strong values; implement proper secrets management (e.g., vault, environment variables, externalized configuration); audit all authentication and encryption mechanisms for additional hard-coded values; consider network segmentation to limit exposure if credentials cannot be fully remediated immediately.

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
Security Siteprotector SystemApplication
Affected:= 3.1.1

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 the installed version of IBM SiteProtector System
    Access the appliance admin interface or run 'sp_version' command via CLI to retrieve the exact version number
    Affected if The version displayed is 3.1.1 specifically
  2. Locate configuration files containing credential definitions
    Inspect configuration files in /opt/SP directory and subdirectories (e.g., config.xml, siteprotector.conf, or similar), looking for embedded passwords or cryptographic keys
    Affected if Hard-coded password strings or encryption keys are found in plaintext within configuration files
  3. Check for default credentials in authentication configuration
    Review authentication configuration files for user accounts and passwords, noting any that appear to be default or embedded rather than user-created
    Affected if Default administrative accounts or passwords are found that were not set by your organization
  4. Inspect database or encryption configuration for embedded keys
    Examine database connection settings and encryption configuration files for hard-coded encryption keys or shared secrets used for internal data protection
    Affected if Encryption keys or database passwords are hard-coded and not externalized to a secrets manager
  5. Review firmware or installer files for embedded credentials
    If accessible, examine firmware images or installer packages for strings containing credentials, passwords, or cryptographic keys using tools like strings or grep
    Affected if Embedded credentials are found within firmware binary files or installer packages

Your environment is affected if you are running IBM SiteProtector System version 3.1.1 and any hard-coded credentials are discovered in configuration files, firmware, or other system components.

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

Immediately rotate all hard-coded credentials to unique, strong values; implement proper secrets management (e.g., vault, environment variables, externalized configuration); audit all authentication and encryption mechanisms for additional hard-coded values; consider network segmentation to limit exposure if credentials cannot be fully remediated immediately.

Fix this in Security Siteprotector System Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4150 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-4150 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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