CVE-2020-4633
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 Resilient SOAR V38.0 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system, caused by formula injection due to improper input validation.
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 Resilient SOAR V38.0 contains a formula injection vulnerability where improper input validation allows a remote attacker to inject malicious spreadsheet formulas that execute arbitrary code on the system.
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= 38.0CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm IBM Resilient SOAR installationLocate and identify the IBM Resilient SOAR application installation directory or check system inventory/management tools for presence of the productAffected if IBM Resilient SOAR is installed and the version is 38.0 exactly
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Check installed version numberAccess the Resilient SOAR platform admin interface or use the command line tool provided by IBM to query the exact version number (typically found in About or System Info sections)Affected if Version is 38.0 (any minor sub-version within 38.0 release)
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Verify spreadsheet export feature is accessibleLog into the Resilient SOAR platform as a standard user and attempt to access the export functionality that generates spreadsheet files (CSV, XLSX)Affected if The spreadsheet export/export to Excel feature is available and accessible to users
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Inspect input validation configurationCheck the platform configuration files or admin settings for input validation rules applied to user-supplied data before spreadsheet generationAffected if No input validation or sanitization rules are configured for spreadsheet formula characters (such as =, +, -, @) in export functions
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Review application logs for formula injection attemptsSearch application and web server logs for patterns containing spreadsheet formula characters at the start of input fields (e.g., =CMD, =1+1, =SUM)Affected if Log entries show attempts to inject formula characters into export or data fields without proper escaping
A user is affected if they are running IBM Resilient SOAR version 38.0 with the spreadsheet export feature enabled and no input validation is applied to prevent formula injection in user-supplied data.
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 vendor-supplied patch/upgrade from IBM for version 38.0, and implement strict input validation and sanitization on all user-supplied data that could be parsed as spreadsheet formulas.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4633 — 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-2020-4633 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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