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Business Automation WorkflowApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-4532

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.5.7.0 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Business Automation Workflow and IBM Business Process Manager (IBM Business Process Manager Express 8.5.5, 8.5.6, 8.5.7, and 8.6) could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information when a detailed technical error message is returned in the browser. This information could be used in further attacks against the system. IBM X-Force ID: 182716.

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 confidence

IBM Business Automation Workflow and Business Process Manager versions 8.5.5 through 8.6 return detailed technical error messages in the browser, allowing remote attackers to obtain sensitive system information (stack traces, file paths, configuration details) that can be leveraged for further attacks.

MitigationDisable detailed error messages in production environments by configuring custom error pages or applying IBM security patches. Ensure application servers are configured to return generic error responses rather than stack traces.

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
Business Automation WorkflowApplication
Affected:= 18.0.0.1= 19.0.0.3
Business Process ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 8.5.5.0, < 8.5.7.0= 8.6.0.0

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 installed IBM BPM/BAW version
    Locate the installation directory and check the version manifest or product information file. Common locations include the properties file in the install directory or the About section in the WebSphere/IBM BPM administration console.
    Affected if The installed version matches IBM Business Automation Workflow 18.0.0.1 or 19.0.0.3, or IBM Business Process Manager 8.5.5.0 through 8.5.6.x, or 8.6.0.0.
  2. Verify error response verbosity
    Trigger a deliberate error condition against the application (such as submitting invalid input to a process or accessing a non-existent resource) and examine the HTTP response body returned by the server.
    Affected if The server returns stack traces, Java exception details, file paths, or configuration information in the error response.
  3. Inspect web container error page configuration
    Access the IBM WebSphere Application Server administration console or locate the web.xml deployment descriptor file for the BPM applications and review the error-page mappings.
    Affected if The configuration specifies <exception-type> elements that result in detailed server-generated error pages being displayed, or no custom error pages are defined.
  4. Check server-level error handling settings
    Examine the WebSphere Application Server deployment descriptors (ibm-web-bnd.xmi, ibm-web-bnd.xml) and the BPM configuration files for settings related to detailedErrors or stackTraceInFaults.
    Affected if The server is configured to expose detailed error information (such as stack traces) to remote clients.

A user is affected if they are running an affected version AND the server returns detailed technical error messages (stack traces, file paths, exception details) in HTTP responses to remote requests.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.5.7.0 or later
Fixed in 8.5.7.0
Interim mitigation

Disable detailed error messages in production environments by configuring custom error pages or applying IBM security patches. Ensure application servers are configured to return generic error responses rather than stack traces.

Fix this in Business Automation Workflow Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2020-4532 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