CVE-2020-4576
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 WebSphere Application Server 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 traditional could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information with a specially-crafted sequence of serialized objects. IBM X-Force ID: 184428.
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 WebSphere Application Server traditional versions 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 contains a deserialization vulnerability where a remote attacker can send a specially-crafted sequence of serialized objects to obtain sensitive information. This is a Java object deserialization flaw that allows disclosure of potentially privileged or confidential data.
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>= 7.0.0.0, < 7.0.0.45>= 8.0.0.0, < 8.0.0.15>= 8.5.0.0, < 8.5.5.19>= 9.0.0.0, < 9.0.5.6CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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 the WebSphere Application Server versionLocate the version file in the installation directory, typically in the /properties/ws.serverVersions file or check the About WebSphere page in the admin console. You can also use the versionInfo command from the bin directory.Affected if The installed version falls within one of these ranges: 7.0.0.0 to 7.0.0.44, 8.0.0.0 to 8.0.0.14, 8.5.0.0 to 8.5.5.18, or 9.0.0.0 to 9.0.5.5
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Review administrative console accessibilityCheck if the WebSphere admin console (typically port 9043/9443) is exposed to untrusted networks. This console provides access to services that may handle deserialized objects.Affected if The administrative console is accessible from untrusted network segments
You are affected if your WebSphere traditional version is below the patched versions AND administrative endpoints (SOAP, RMI, or admin console) are network-accessible to untrusted parties.
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 data7.0.0.458.0.0.158.5.5.19
Apply the IBM security patch (PI66423) for this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to WebSphere administrative endpoints and consider deploying a web application firewall to filter malicious serialization payloads.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4576 — 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-2020-4576 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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