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Financial Transaction ManagerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2020-5001

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.2.7 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 Financial Transaction Manager 3.2.0 through 3.2.7 could allow a remote attacker to traverse directories on the system. An attacker could send a specially-crafted URL request containing "dot dot" sequences (/../) to view arbitrary files on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 192953.

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 confidence

IBM Financial Transaction Manager versions 3.2.0 through 3.2.7 contain a path traversal vulnerability. An unauthenticated remote attacker can craft URLs containing '../' sequences to traverse directories and access arbitrary files on the host system, potentially exposing sensitive configuration or data files.

MitigationApply IBM's security patch for this vulnerability (available from IBM). If immediate patching is not possible, implement input validation to reject URL requests containing 'dot dot' sequences and consider deploying a WAF rule to block directory traversal attempts.

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
Financial Transaction ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 3.2.0, <= 3.2.7

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify IBM Financial Transaction Manager installation
    Locate the IBM FTM installation directory and check for version manifest files, typically found in the installation root or conf directory. Common locations include /opt/ibm/ftm or the application server's webapps directory.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 3.2.0 through 3.2.7 inclusive
  2. Determine installed version number
    Check the version file or use the IBM FTM administration console to view the product version information. The version is often displayed in the 'About' or 'System Information' section of the management interface.
    Affected if The displayed version starts with 3.2 and the full version number is 3.2.0, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.6, or 3.2.7
  3. Verify web interface is accessible
    Confirm that the IBM FTM web application is accessible over HTTP/HTTPS. Test connectivity to the FTM portal URL endpoint.
    Affected if The web interface responds to requests, indicating the vulnerable component is exposed
  4. Inspect HTTP access logs for traversal patterns
    Review the web server or application server access logs for any requests containing '../' or URL-encoded directory traversal sequences targeting the FTM application.
    Affected if Requests with '../' sequences are present in logs or the application responds to such requests without rejection

You are affected if IBM Financial Transaction Manager version 3.2.0 through 3.2.7 is installed and the web interface is accessible, as the path traversal flaw can be exploited without authentication via specially crafted URLs containing '../' sequences.

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 a release after 3.2.7
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM's security patch for this vulnerability (available from IBM). If immediate patching is not possible, implement input validation to reject URL requests containing 'dot dot' sequences and consider deploying a WAF rule to block directory traversal attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

IBM Financial Transaction Manager 3.2.8 or later

  1. 1. Review IBM's official security bulletin for CVE-2020-5001 to confirm the specific fixed release and any special installation instructions.
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade, as this is a production financial system.
  3. 3. Backup the current IBM Financial Transaction Manager installation and configuration data.
  4. 4. Upgrade IBM Financial Transaction Manager from version 3.2.x to version 3.2.8 or later (the first version containing the fix).
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the path traversal vulnerability is resolved by testing that directory traversal sequences (/../) are rejected in URL requests.
  6. 6. Confirm all financial transaction processing functions operate normally after the upgrade.
Caveat Review IBM's release notes for 3.2.8 to check for any configuration or compatibility changes that may require adjustment

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

Fix this in Financial Transaction Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2020-5001 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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