dbcve.org
Qradar Security Information And Event ManagerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-4979

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.3.3 / 7.4.2 or later.
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 QRadar SIEM 7.3 and 7.4 is vulnerable to insecure inter-deployment communication. An attacker that is able to comprimise or spoof traffic between hosts may be able to execute arbitrary commands. IBM X-Force D: 192538.

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 QRadar SIEM versions 7.3 and 7.4 contain an insecure inter-deployment communication vulnerability. An attacker who can compromise or spoof network traffic between QRadar deployment hosts can execute arbitrary commands on the affected system, allowing full system compromise.

MitigationRestrict network access between QRadar deployment components using network segmentation and firewall rules. Implement mutual TLS authentication for inter-component communication or apply vendor-provided patches if available.

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
Qradar Security Information And Event ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 7.3.0, < 7.3.3>= 7.4.0, < 7.4.2= 7.3.3= 7.4.2

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. Determine QRadar SIEM version
    Run the command 'qradar_version' or check /opt/qradar/conf/qradar.conf for the version field
    Affected if The installed version falls within 7.3.0 to 7.3.3 inclusive, or 7.4.0 to 7.4.2 inclusive
  2. Verify inter-deployment communication is configured
    Check /opt/qradar/conf/deployment.conf or use the QRadar console UI under 'Deployment' > 'Deployment' to see if multiple hosts (consoles, collectors, processors) are configured
    Affected if Multiple QRadar components are deployed and inter-host communication is enabled (the vulnerability requires this configuration to be exploitable)
  3. Inspect network exposure of deployment hosts
    Review firewall rules and network configuration to determine if QRadar deployment hosts can be reached from untrusted networks or if traffic between hosts is protected
    Affected if Deployment hosts can communicate over untrusted networks or traffic between hosts is not protected by mutual TLS authentication

A user is affected if their QRadar version is 7.3.0-7.3.3 or 7.4.0-7.4.2 AND they have multiple deployment components with inter-deployment communication enabled and exposed to potentially compromised network paths.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.3.3 / 7.4.2 or later
Fixed in 7.3.37.4.2
Interim mitigation

Restrict network access between QRadar deployment components using network segmentation and firewall rules. Implement mutual TLS authentication for inter-component communication or apply vendor-provided patches if available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

QRadar 7.3.3 Fix Pack 3 or later; QRadar 7.4.2 Fix Pack 3 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current QRadar SIEM version by navigating to the Admin > System Settings > Version Information panel
  2. 2. For QRadar 7.3.x versions: Upgrade to QRadar 7.3.3 Fix Pack 3 (7.3.3.1) or later
  3. 3. For QRadar 7.4.x versions: Upgrade to QRadar 7.4.2 Fix Pack 3 (7.4.2.1) or later
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fix pack from IBM Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral)
  5. 5. Schedule a maintenance window as upgrades require system downtime
  6. 6. Backup the QRadar configuration before applying the upgrade
  7. 7. Apply the upgrade via the QRadar console or RPM package installation
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version in the Admin panel
Caveat Major QRadar upgrades may require significant testing in a non-production environment first; ensure compatibility with existing integrations and workflows

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

Fix this in Qradar Security Information And Event Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-4979 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-4979 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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