CVE-2020-4338
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 MQ 9.1.4 could allow a local attacker to obtain sensitive information by inclusion of sensitive data within runmqras data. IBM X-Force ID: 177937.
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 confidenceIBM MQ 9.1.4 contains a vulnerability in the runmqras diagnostic data collection utility where sensitive data is included in output files, allowing a local attacker with access to those files to obtain sensitive information. The runmqras command gathers system information for troubleshooting but improperly handles or includes confidential data in its diagnostic bundles.
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>= 9.1.0, < 9.1.5CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine IBM MQ installation versionRun the dspmqver command or check the installation directory for version information. On Linux/Unix, you can also check /opt/mqm or the directory where MQ is installed.Affected if The installed version is 9.1.0, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.1.3, or 9.1.4 (any version from 9.1.0 up to but not including 9.1.5)
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Locate the runmqras utilityVerify that the runmqras utility exists in the IBM MQ bin directory (typically $MQ_INSTALL_PATH/bin/runmqras). Check if it is accessible to users who are not authorized administrators.Affected if The runmqras utility is present and executable by non-administrator users
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Identify runmqras output filesSearch for diagnostic bundle files created by runmqras. These are typically created in the current working directory or a user-specified location, often with .zip or .tar extension, and may be named with patterns like mqras_* or include the date. Check common locations like /var/mqm and the /tmp directory.Affected if Diagnostic output files from runmqras exist and are readable by non-administrator users
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Verify file permissions on runmqras outputInspect the permissions on any found diagnostic bundles. Use ls -la on the output files to confirm who has read access.Affected if Output files are readable by users other than the administrator who ran the command or root
You are affected if IBM MQ version is 9.1.0 through 9.1.4 AND the runmqras utility or its diagnostic output files are accessible to non-administrator users on your system.
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 data9.1.5
Apply the IBM MQ patch for CVE-2020-4338 (contact IBM support for availability). Restrict access to runmqras output files and the runmqras utility itself to authorized administrators only until the patch can be applied.
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- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4338 — 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-2020-4338 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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