CVE-2020-4337
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 API Connect 2018.4.1.0 through 2018.4.1.12 could allow an attacker to launch phishing attacks by tricking the server to generate user registration emails that contain malicious URLs. IBM X-Force ID: 177933.
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 confidenceIBM API Connect 2018.4.1.0 through 2018.4.1.12 contains a vulnerability in the user registration email generation process that allows attackers to inject malicious URLs into registration emails. This is likely due to insufficient input validation or sanitization of URL parameters in the email template generation logic, enabling phishing attacks against users who receive these emails.
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>= 2018.4.1.0, <= 2018.4.1.12CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed IBM API Connect versionRun the command 'apic version' or check the product version through the API Connect management console under Settings > Version. Alternatively, check the installed packages via the Linux package manager if installed via rpm/deb.Affected if The installed version is 2018.4.1.0, 2018.4.1.1, 2018.4.1.2, 2018.4.1.3, 2018.4.1.4, 2018.4.1.5, 2018.4.1.6, 2018.4.1.7, 2018.4.1.8, 2018.4.1.9, 2018.4.1.10, 2018.4.1.11, or 2018.4.1.12
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Verify if user registration or self-signup is enabledLog into the API Connect admin portal and navigate to Settings > User Registration or Settings > Portal Settings. Check whether self-service user registration is turned on, or query the API Connect management database for the registration configuration.Affected if User registration or self-signup functionality is enabled and exposed to unauthenticated users
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Inspect email template configuration for registration emailsAccess the API Connect management UI, go to Settings > Email Templates, and locate the user registration or account activation email template. Examine the template for any URL parameters that are not sanitized or validated before insertion into the email body.Affected if The registration email templates contain unsanitized URL parameters that could be manipulated to inject malicious links
You are affected if you are running IBM API Connect version 2018.4.1.0 through 2018.4.1.12 and have the user registration or self-signup feature enabled, allowing external users to register and receive emails.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade IBM API Connect to a version newer than 2018.4.1.12, or apply the relevant security patch from IBM's support offerings.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4337 — 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-2020-4337 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