CVE-2020-4702
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 InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 is vulnerable to stored cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session. IBM X-Force ID: 187187.
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 confidenceIBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 contains a stored (persistent) cross-site scripting vulnerability in its Web UI. Attackers can embed malicious JavaScript code into application input fields, which gets stored in the system and executed when other users view the affected content. This allows session hijacking and credentials disclosure within trusted sessions.
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= 11.7CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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.
-
Confirm IBM InfoSphere Information Server versionLocate and inspect the installed version of IBM InfoSphere Information Server in your environment. This is typically found in the product's About section, installation directory, or version metadata file. Compare your installed version to the affected range.Affected if The installed version is IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 (any minor release or fix pack).
-
Verify Web UI component is accessibleConfirm that the IBM InfoSphere Information Server Web UI interface is enabled and accessible to users. This is typically accessible via a web browser at the product's web console URL.Affected if The Web UI is exposed and users can access application input fields where data can be submitted and stored.
-
Inspect application logs for XSS indicatorsReview IBM InfoSphere Information Server logs for any suspicious script tags, JavaScript keywords, or encoding patterns that may indicate XSS payloads were submitted through input fields.Affected if Logs contain evidence of script injection attempts or unexpected HTML/script content in user-submitted fields.
-
Examine stored application data for malicious scriptsQuery or inspect the application database and stored content for any persisted JavaScript code, script tags, or event handler attributes within user-generated fields that should only contain benign data.Affected if Stored application data contains executable script content that was injected through user input fields.
Your environment is affected if you run IBM InfoSphere Information Server version 11.7 with the Web UI accessible and either logs or stored data show evidence of injected script content.
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's official patch for CVE-2020-4702. In parallel, implement output encoding for all user-supplied data rendered in Web UI pages and validate input on the server side to prevent injection of malicious scripts.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 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 $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4702 — 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-2020-4702 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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