CVE-2020-4461
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 Security Access Manager Appliance 9.0.7.1 could allow an authenticated user to bypass security by allowing id_token claims manipulation without verification. IBM X-Force ID: 181481.
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 Security Access Manager Appliance 9.0.7.1 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability where authenticated users can manipulate id_token claims without proper verification, allowing security controls to be bypassed.
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>= 9.0, < 9.0.7.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 Security Access Manager versionLog into the ISAM appliance admin console or run 'appliance version' command via SSH to retrieve the installed version numberAffected if The installed version is 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.7.0 (i.e., >= 9.0.0 and < 9.0.7.1)
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Verify OpenID Connect (OIDC) provider configurationNavigate to Security > OAuth > OpenID Connect Providers in the admin console and inspect the provider definition for the id_token claim handling configurationAffected if OIDC provider is configured and uses the default claim mappings without custom validation rules
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Inspect Security Token Service (STS) chain for id_token claim validationReview the STS module chain in Security > Access > STS > Chain Templates to determine if claim validation modules are properly configured for id_token processingAffected if No explicit claim validation module is present in the authentication chain, or the chain relies on default behavior
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Check OAuth token endpoint configurationReview the OAuth configuration at Security > OAuth > Global Settings to inspect whether id_token claims can be modified at the token endpointAffected if Token endpoint allows id_token claim injection or modification through request parameters
A user is affected if their ISAM version is below 9.0.7.1 AND they have an OIDC provider or OAuth configuration where id_token claims are processed without explicit validation in the authentication pipeline.
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 data9.0.7.1
Apply the vendor patch or upgrade to a fixed version. Ensure proper id_token claim validation is enforced in the authentication pipeline.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4461 — 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-2020-4461 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
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