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Websphere Application ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-4589

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.0.5.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system with a specially-crafted sequence of serialized objects from untrusted sources. IBM X-Force ID: 184585.

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 confidence

IBM WebSphere Application Server contains a deserialization vulnerability where a remote attacker can execute arbitrary code by sending a specially-crafted sequence of serialized Java objects. The vulnerability stems from insecure deserialization of untrusted data, allowing complete system compromise without authentication.

MitigationApply IBM WebSphere security patches for CVE-2020-4589. Until patches are applied, restrict network access to the application server and disable serialization of untrusted objects where possible.

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
Websphere Application ServerApplication
Affected:>= 7.0.0.0, <= 7.0.0.45>= 8.0.0.0, <= 8.0.0.15>= 8.5.0.0, <= 8.5.5.17>= 9.0.0.0, <= 9.0.5.4

CVSS 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed WebSphere Application Server version
    Run the versionInfo script in the bin directory: ./versionInfo.sh (Unix) or versionInfo.bat (Windows), or check the install_root/properties/version/WSASProductVersion.properties file
    Affected if The installed version falls within 7.0.0.0-7.0.0.45, 8.0.0.0-8.0.0.15, 8.5.0.0-8.5.5.17, or 9.0.0.0-9.0.5.4
  2. Verify if IIOP protocol is enabled
    Check the server.xml configuration file in the config/cells/... directory for the ORB or IIOP service definitions. Look for <orb> or <iiopServer> elements with enabled="true"
    Affected if IIOP or ORB service is enabled and listening on network ports (default 9100, 2809)
  3. Confirm IIOP listener ports are accessible
    Run netstat or ss to check listening ports: netstat -an | grep -E '9100|2809' or review the IIOP endpoint bindings in the WebSphere administration console under Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > server_name > Container Settings > Container services > ORB service
    Affected if IIOP ports (9100, 2809) are bound to 0.0.0.0 or an exposed network interface accessible to untrusted users

A user is affected if their WebSphere version is in the listed ranges AND IIOP/ORB is enabled and network-accessible to untrusted parties.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 9.0.5.4
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM WebSphere security patches for CVE-2020-4589. Until patches are applied, restrict network access to the application server and disable serialization of untrusted objects where possible.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

WebSphere 8.5.5.18+ or 9.0.5.5+ (depending on your baseline)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed WebSphere Application Server version using the administrative console or wsadmin script.
  2. 2. For WebSphere 7.0.0.x and 8.0.0.x: Note these versions reached End of Support; IBM recommends upgrading to a supported version (8.5.5.18+ or 9.0.5.5+).
  3. 3. For WebSphere 8.5.0.0-8.5.5.17: Apply IBM WebSphere 8.5.5 Fix Pack 18 or later.
  4. 4. For WebSphere 9.0.0.0-9.0.5.4: Apply IBM WebSphere 9.0.5 Fix Pack 5 or later.
  5. 5. Download the fix from IBM Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/).
  6. 6. Apply the fix using IBM Installation Manager or the update installer following IBM's standard patching procedures.
  7. 7. Restart the WebSphere Application Server nodes and deployment manager after applying the fix.
  8. 8. Verify the fix was applied successfully by checking the installed version and testing that the vulnerability is no longer exploitable.
Caveat WebSphere 7.0 and 8.0 reached End of Support - no further patches available; upgrade to 8.5.5.18+ or 9.0.5.5+ required

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Websphere Application Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-4589 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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