CVE-2020-4565
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 Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information due to insecure communications being used between the application and server. IBM X-Force ID: 183935.
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 Spectrum Protect Plus versions 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 transmits data between the application and server using insecure communications (likely unencrypted HTTP or weak TLS), allowing a man-in-the-middle attacker to intercept and obtain sensitive information such as credentials or data backups.
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>= 10.1.0, <= 10.1.5CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IBM Spectrum Protect Plus versionLocate the installed version of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus in the system documentation, about page, or versioninfo command outputAffected if The installed version is 10.1.0, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, 10.1.4, or 10.1.5 (any version from 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 inclusive)
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Verify communication protocol configurationCheck the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server and client configuration files or admin console settings to determine if HTTP or HTTPS is enabled for traffic between the application and serverAffected if HTTP (unencrypted) is enabled or permitted for client-server communications
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Inspect TLS protocol settingsExamine the TLS/SSL configuration in the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus administrative interface or configuration files to identify which TLS versions (e.g., TLS 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3) are enabledAffected if Weak or outdated TLS versions (TLS 1.0 or TLS 1.1) are enabled, or strong TLS 1.2/1.3 is not enforced
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Review cipher suite configurationCheck the configured cipher suites in the TLS settings to see if weak or deprecated ciphers (such as those using MD5, SHA-1, or short key lengths) are permittedAffected if Weak or deprecated cipher suites are enabled or allowed
A user is affected if their IBM Spectrum Protect Plus installation is version 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 and the communication between application and server is configured to use unencrypted HTTP or weak/outdated TLS protocols.
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 dataEnable and enforce HTTPS/TLS for all communications between the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus application and server. Ensure strong TLS configuration with up-to-date cipher suites and proper certificate validation.
- 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-2020-4565 — 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-2020-4565 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data