Sterling Connect\Application · Ibm

CVE-2020-4767

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.7.0.7 / 4.8.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Sterling Connect Direct for Microsoft Windows 4.7, 4.8, 6.0, and 6.1 could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service, caused by a buffer over-read. Bysending a specially crafted request, the attacker could cause the application to crash. IBM X-Force ID: 188906.

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 confidence

IBM Sterling Connect Direct for Microsoft Windows versions 4.7, 4.8, 6.0, and 6.1 contains a buffer over-read vulnerability that can be triggered remotely via specially crafted requests, causing the application to crash and resulting in denial of service.

MitigationApply IBM security patches for this vulnerability. Until patched, consider network segmentation and restricting access to affected systems to reduce attack surface.

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
Sterling Connect\Application
Affected:>= 4.7.0.0, < 4.7.0.7>= 4.8.0.0, < 4.8.0.3>= 6.0.0.0, < 6.0.0.4>= 6.1.0.0, < 6.1.0.1

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Check if IBM Sterling Connect Direct is installed
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' to list installed software
    Affected if IBM Sterling Connect Direct for Microsoft Windows is not present in the installed programs list
  2. Locate the executable and confirm version
    Navigate to the installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\IBM\Connect-Direct or C:\Connect-Direct) and locate the main executable such as cdunix.exe or cdwin.exe. Right-click the executable and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if The File Version falls within any of these ranges: 4.7.0.0 through 4.7.0.6, 4.8.0.0 through 4.8.0.2, 6.0.0.0 through 6.0.0.3, or 6.1.0.0
  3. Query the Windows Registry for version
    Run 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\IBM\Connect-Direct\CurrentVersion' or check the registry path where the application stores its version information
    Affected if The queried version value matches any of the affected version ranges listed above
  4. Verify if the service is running and listening on network ports
    Open Services.msc to confirm the Connect Direct service is running, then run 'netstat -an | findstr LISTENING' to check if the application is listening on TCP ports (default ports are 1363, 1364, or custom configured ports)
    Affected if The service is running and bound to a network interface accessible remotely, increasing exposure to the vulnerability
  5. Confirm patch level by checking for interim fixes
    Consult the IBM documentation or support portal for the specific patch identifiers related to CVE-2020-4767, then verify the installed fix level using the application's built-in version or maintenance commands
    Affected if The installed fix level is earlier than 4.7.0.7, 4.8.0.3, 6.0.0.4, or 6.1.0.1, indicating the security patch has not been applied

A system is affected if IBM Sterling Connect Direct for Microsoft Windows is installed and the installed version falls within any of these vulnerable ranges: 4.7.0.0-4.7.0.6, 4.8.0.0-4.8.0.2, 6.0.0.0-6.0.0.3, or 6.1.0.0, and the service is exposed to network requests.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.7.0.7 / 4.8.0.3 / 6.0.0.4 or later
Fixed in 4.7.0.74.8.0.36.0.0.4
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM security patches for this vulnerability. Until patched, consider network segmentation and restricting access to affected systems to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Sterling Connect\ Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-4767 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