CVE-2020-4549
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 i2 Analyst Notebook 9.2.1 could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system, caused by a memory corruption. By persuading a victim to open a specially-crafted file, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 183317.
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 i2 Analyst Notebook 9.2.1 contains a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing specially-crafted files, allowing a local attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution. The attack requires victim interaction (opening a malicious file), making it a local privilege escalation scenario rather than remote.
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= 9.2.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Locate IBM i2 Analyst Notebook installationCheck for installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\IBM\i2\Analyst Notebook or C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\i2\Analyst Notebook) or search for 'Analyst Notebook' in Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UninstallAffected if IBM i2 Analyst Notebook is installed on the system
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Determine installed versionRight-click the Analyst Notebook executable (AnalystNotebook.exe) in the installation folder, select Properties, and view the File Version on the Details tab. Alternatively, check the version value in the Windows Registry uninstall entryAffected if The version displayed is exactly 9.2.1
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Verify application executable integrityRun a baseline integrity check on AnalystNotebook.exe using Windows certutil -hashfile or a file integrity monitoring tool to confirm the executable has not been tampered withAffected if The executable hash differs from the original or shows signs of modification
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Review recent file access historyCheck Windows Prefetch, recent documents, or application logs for any recently opened .adx, .dx, or other Analyst Notebook file types from untrusted sources. Use PowerShell Get-ItemProperty on recent .adx files to inspect access timestampsAffected if Any suspicious or untrusted files were recently opened using the application
If IBM i2 Analyst Notebook version 9.2.1 is installed and any untrusted files were opened, the environment is likely affected by this vulnerability.
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 security patch or upgrade to a patched version of Analyst Notebook. Until patched, restrict access to untrusted files and educate users about not opening files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,392.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4549 — 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-2020-4549 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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