Security Guardium Big Data IntelligenceApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-4254

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence 1.0 (SonarG) uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt highly sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 175560.

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 Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence 1.0 (SonarG) uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt highly sensitive information stored in the system.

MitigationApply IBM's security patch for CVE-2020-4254 or upgrade to a patched version of Guardium Big Data Intelligence. If immediate patching is not possible, implement compensating controls such as additional encryption layers or network segmentation to protect sensitive data.

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 Guardium Big Data IntelligenceApplication
Affected:= 1.0

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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. Identify the installed IBM Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence version
    Check the product version through the system management interface or run 'rpm -q guardium-big-data-intelligence' or 'lsb_release -a' if installed on Linux, or check the About section in the web UI
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.0 (all patch levels)
  2. Confirm the product is the SonarG variant
    Verify the product name in the installation directory or system inventory lists 'IBM Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence' or 'SonarG'
    Affected if The product is IBM Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence version 1.0 (SonarG)
  3. Locate encryption configuration files
    Search for configuration files in the installation directory that handle encryption settings, typically in conf/ or config/ subdirectories
    Affected if Weak or deprecated cryptographic algorithms (such as MD5, SHA1, DES, or similar) are configured or in use
  4. Inspect cryptographic algorithm settings
    Examine encryption-related configuration files or settings panels for algorithm specifications
    Affected if The system is configured to use weak cryptographic algorithms for storing or protecting sensitive data

A user is affected if IBM Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence (SonarG) version 1.0 is installed and the system uses weak cryptographic algorithms for data protection.

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

Apply IBM's security patch for CVE-2020-4254 or upgrade to a patched version of Guardium Big Data Intelligence. If immediate patching is not possible, implement compensating controls such as additional encryption layers or network segmentation to protect sensitive data.

Fix this in Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4254 — 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-2020-4254 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