CVE-2020-4557
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 Business Automation Workflow 18.0, 19.0, and 20.0 and IBM Business Process Manager 8.5 and 8.6 are vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session. IBM X-Force ID: 183611.
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 confidenceStored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM Business Automation Workflow (v18.0-20.0) and Business Process Manager (v8.5-8.6) allows authenticated users to embed malicious JavaScript into the Web UI, executing in trusted sessions and potentially exposing credentials or session tokens.
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= 18.0.0.0= 19.0.0.0= 20.0.0.0= 8.5.0.0= 8.6.0.0CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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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Identify installed product and versionLocate the IBM Business Automation Workflow or Business Process Manager installation and determine the exact version number from installation directories, product information pages, or administrative consolesAffected if Version matches 18.0.0.0, 19.0.0.0, or 20.0.0.0 for BAW; or 8.5.0.0 or 8.6.0.0 for BPM (or falls within the v18.0-20.0 or v8.5-8.6 ranges)
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Confirm Web UI is accessibleVerify that the Web UI component such as Process Designer, Case Client, or similar web interfaces is enabled and reachableAffected if Web UI is exposed and accessible to authenticated users
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Review user access to vulnerable interfaceDetermine if standard or untrusted authenticated users can access the affected web interface where the XSS payload would be insertedAffected if Users with standard authentication can access the vulnerable web interface without additional security restrictions
Environment is affected if running a vulnerable BAW or BPM version with the Web UI enabled and accessible to authenticated users who could inject malicious scripts
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 vendor patches for CVE-2020-4557; implement output encoding and input validation on affected web interfaces; consider Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS execution.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4557 — 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-2020-4557 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data