CVE-2020-4660
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 Security Access Manager 9.0.7 and IBM Security Verify Access 10.0.0 could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive using timing side channel attacks which could aid in further attacks against the system. IBM X-Force ID: 186140.
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 Security Access Manager 9.0.7 and IBM Security Verify Access 10.0.0 contain a timing side-channel vulnerability that allows attackers to obtain sensitive information by measuring execution time differences. This timing leak could expose cryptographic keys, authentication tokens, or other secrets that can be inferred from variable operation durations.
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= 9.0.7.0= 10.0.0CVSS 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 Security Access Manager versionUse the product's version check mechanism (such as 'version' command, admin console, or RPM/package query) to determine the exact installed version of IBM Security Access ManagerAffected if The installed version is exactly 9.0.7.0
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Identify IBM Security Verify Access versionUse the product's version check mechanism (such as 'version' command, admin console, or RPM/package query) to determine the exact installed version of IBM Security Verify AccessAffected if The installed version is exactly 10.0.0
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Determine if the appliance handles cryptographic operationsReview the configuration to identify if the appliance is performing cryptographic operations such as key exchange, token generation, or encryption/decryption that could be vulnerable to timing analysisAffected if Cryptographic operations are performed and the version matches 9.0.7.0 or 10.0.0
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Audit authentication workflowsExamine authentication configurations and logs to determine if variable-time operations could be observed by external attackersAffected if The product handles authentication and the version is affected
You are affected only if you have exactly IBM Security Access Manager 9.0.7.0 or exactly IBM Security Verify Access 10.0.0 installed and are using cryptographic or authentication features that could be measured for timing differences.
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 security patches for CVE-2020-4660. If no patch available, review and refactor sensitive operations to use constant-time algorithms to eliminate timing variations.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4660 — 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-2020-4660 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