CVE-2020-4152
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 · uneditedIBM QRadar Network Security 5.4.0 and 5.5.0 transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be obtained using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 17467.
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 analysisSensitive information is transmitted over an unencrypted channel, so anyone positioned on the network path can read it as it passes. Credentials, tokens, and personal data are the usual casualties. The fix is to encrypt everything sensitive in transit with TLS and to remove any plaintext fallback.
General guidance for the cleartext transmission class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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>= 5.4.0.0, < 5.4.0.14>= 5.5.0.0, < 5.5.0.9CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 · scoped5.4.0.145.5.0.9
QRadar Network Security 5.4.0.14 (if on 5.4.x branch) or 5.5.0.9 (if on 5.5.x branch)
- 1. Identify current QRadar Network Security version via system console or admin interface
- 2. Determine target upgrade version based on current branch: if on 5.4.x, upgrade to 5.4.0.14; if on 5.5.x, upgrade to 5.5.0.9
- 3. Review IBM support page https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6514403 for upgrade prerequisites and procedures
- 4. Create system backup or snapshot before upgrading
- 5. Schedule maintenance window as upgrade may require downtime
- 6. Download and apply the appropriate patch/upgrade from IBM Fix Central or provided vendor link
- 7. After upgrade, verify the application of the fix and test network communication
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4152 — 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-2020-4152 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