CVE-2020-4879
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 Cognos Controller 10.4.0, 10.4.1, and 10.4.2 could allow a remote attacker to bypass security restrictions, caused by improper validation of authentication cookies. IBM X-Force ID: 190847.
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 Cognos Controller versions 10.4.0, 10.4.1, and 10.4.2 contain a security vulnerability where authentication cookies are not properly validated, allowing a remote attacker to bypass security restrictions and gain unauthorized access to the application.
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= 10.4.0= 10.4.1= 10.4.2CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed IBM Cognos Controller versionCheck the product version through the IBM Cognos Administration console, or look in the installation directory for version metadata files (typically in the /configuration or /bin directories where version.txt or similar files exist)Affected if The installed version is 10.4.0, 10.4.1, or 10.4.2
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Verify the Cognos Controller web component is enabledConfirm that the IBM Cognos Controller web reporting interface is configured and accessible. This is typically accessible via the cgi-bin/cognos_controller endpoint or through the IBM Cognos Analytics portal integrationAffected if The web interface is exposed and the version matches affected versions
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Check for unauthorized access patterns in web logsReview IBM Cognos Controller web server logs (IIS or Apache logs, or Cognos logs in the /logs directory) for unusual authentication cookie patterns or sessions that bypass normal login flowsAffected if Logs show authentication cookies being accepted without proper validation and the version is affected
You are affected if IBM Cognos Controller version 10.4.0, 10.4.1, or 10.4.2 is installed and the web interface is exposed to network access.
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 the vendor-provided security patch or upgrade to a patched version of IBM Cognos Controller. Until patched, implement network segmentation and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4879 — 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-2020-4879 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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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