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Cognos ControllerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-4877

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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 Cognos Controller 10.4.0, 10.4.1, and 10.4.2 could be vulnerable to unauthorized modifications by using public fields in public classes. IBM X-Force ID: 190843.

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 Cognos Controller versions 10.4.0, 10.4.1, and 10.4.2 contain a vulnerability where public fields in public classes can be manipulated by authenticated attackers to make unauthorized modifications to data or system state. This appears to be a broken access control issue where insufficient encapsulation allows direct field access without proper authorization checks.

MitigationOrganizations should upgrade to a patched version of IBM Cognos Controller. If no patch is available, code review should be conducted to identify and refactor public fields to private with controlled accessors, and implement proper authentication/authorization checks on all modification operations.

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
Cognos ControllerApplication
Affected:= 10.4.0= 10.4.1= 10.4.2

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 IBM Cognos Controller version
    Locate the Cognos Controller installation directory and check the version information file, or use the Cognos Configuration tool to view the installed version number
    Affected if The version is 10.4.0, 10.4.1, or 10.4.2
  2. Verify authentication is required for application access
    Confirm that the Cognos Controller web interface or API endpoints require valid authentication credentials before allowing access
    Affected if The application allows unauthenticated access to modification endpoints
  3. Check for unauthorized data modifications
    Review application audit logs and database change records for unexpected or unauthorized modifications to configuration data, user permissions, or system settings that were not initiated by legitimate administrators
    Affected if Modification records exist that were performed by authenticated users without proper authorization scope
  4. Inspect application for exposed public fields in business logic classes
    Review Java class definitions within the Cognos Controller application codebase for public fields that should be encapsulated as private with controlled getter/setter methods
    Affected if Public mutable fields exist in classes that handle sensitive data or system state without accessor controls

The environment is affected if IBM Cognos Controller version 10.4.0, 10.4.1, or 10.4.2 is installed and the application allows authenticated users to manipulate data through direct public field access without proper authorization checks.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Organizations should upgrade to a patched version of IBM Cognos Controller. If no patch is available, code review should be conducted to identify and refactor public fields to private with controlled accessors, and implement proper authentication/authorization checks on all modification operations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

IBM Cognos Controller 10.4.3 or later fixed release

  1. Check IBM Support for the latest IBM Cognos Controller 10.4.x fix pack at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6339893
  2. Download and apply IBM Cognos Controller fix pack 10.4.3 or later which contains the security fix for CVE-2020-4877
  3. After upgrade, verify that public fields in public classes have been properly refactored to use appropriate access modifiers
  4. Test the application to ensure authorization controls function correctly after the update
Caveat Review IBM release notes for 10.4.3 for any configuration or compatibility changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Cognos Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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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-2020-4877 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