CVE-2020-4433
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 · uneditedCertain IBM Aspera applications are vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking. This could allow a remote attacker with intimate knowledge of the server to execute arbitrary code on the system with the privileges of root or cause server to crash. IBM X-Force ID: 180814.
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 Aspera applications contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability due to improper bounds checking. A remote attacker with intimate knowledge of the server can exploit this to execute arbitrary code with root privileges or cause denial of service. The high CVSS score reflects the potential for complete system compromise.
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<= 3.7.4<= 3.7.4<= 3.9.3<= 3.9.3<= 3.9.10<= 1.4.3<= 3.7.4<= 3.7.4CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed IBM Aspera productsList all IBM Aspera applications installed on the system, such as Application Platform, Faspex, High Speed Transfer Server, Proxy Server, Server On Demand, or Shares On DemandAffected if Any IBM Aspera product from the affected list is installed
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Determine the installed version of each Aspera productUse the product's built-in version command, check installation logs, or consult the product's administrative interface for the current version numberAffected if The installed version matches or is below any of these thresholds: Application Platform On Demand <= 3.7.4, Faspex On Demand <= 3.7.4, High Speed Transfer Endpoint <= 3.9.3, High Speed Transfer Server <= 3.9.3, High Speed Transfer Server For Cloud Pak For Integration <= 3.9.10, Proxy Server <= 1.4.3
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Verify Aspera services are network accessibleCheck network listener configuration or firewall rules to determine if Aspera services are exposed to network accessAffected if Aspera services are reachable from network locations, especially untrusted networks, since the vulnerability can be exploited remotely by an attacker with server knowledge
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Review Aspera service logs for anomalous behaviorExamine Aspera application and system logs for unexpected errors, crashes, or unusual transfer activity that may indicate exploitation attemptsAffected if Logs contain unexplained crashes, buffer overflow errors, or signs of unauthorized code execution related to Aspera processes
You are affected if any IBM Aspera product is installed with a version at or below the affected thresholds for your specific product, particularly if the service is network-accessible.
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 dataApply IBM Aspera security patches or updates that address this vulnerability. Restrict network access to Aspera services and monitor for indicators of exploitation given the requirement for intimate server knowledge.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4433 — 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-2020-4433 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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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.
- 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
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