CVE-2020-4552
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: 183320.
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 i2 Analyst Notebook 9.2.1 contains a memory corruption vulnerability that can be triggered by opening a specially-crafted malicious file, allowing a local attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system. The attack requires user interaction (opening the file) and local access to deliver the payload.
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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Verify IBM i2 Analyst Notebook installationCheck if the application is installed on the system by looking for the installation directory (typically in Program Files or Program Files (x86) under an IBM or i2 folder) or by checking Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for an entry containing 'IBM i2 Analyst Notebook'Affected if The application is found to be installed on the system
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Confirm installed version is 9.2.1Open IBM i2 Analyst Notebook and navigate to Help > About, or right-click the executable file in the installation folder and select Properties > Details to view the product versionAffected if The displayed version is exactly 9.2.1 (the equals sign indicates only this specific version is affected)
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Identify recently opened filesCheck the application's recent files list or examine the file system for recently modified files within the application data directory (typically %APPDATA%\IBM\i2\Analyst Notebook or similar)Affected if Suspicious or unexpected files with unusual extensions or from untrusted sources appear in recent file history
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Inspect user-downloaded filesReview files in the Downloads folder and any directories where untrusted files may have been saved, looking for files with extensions associated with Analyst Notebook that were received from untrusted sourcesAffected if Users have opened Analyst Notebook files from untrusted or unknown sources since the vulnerability requires user interaction to trigger the malicious file
The system is affected only if IBM i2 Analyst Notebook version 9.2.1 is installed AND users have opened or may open maliciously crafted files from untrusted sources.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of IBM i2 Analyst Notebook. Until patched, warn users against opening files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4552 — 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-2020-4552 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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