CVE-2020-5356
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 · uneditedDell PowerProtect Data Manager (PPDM) versions prior to 19.4 and Dell PowerProtect X400 versions prior to 3.2 contain an improper authorization vulnerability. A remote authenticated malicious user may download any file from the affected PowerProtect virtual machines.
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 confidenceDell PowerProtect Data Manager and X400 versions prior to 19.4 and 3.2 respectively contain an improper authorization vulnerability. An authenticated remote user can exploit this flaw to download arbitrary files from any PowerProtect virtual machine, bypassing intended access controls.
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< 19.4< 3.2CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed PowerProtect productDetermine whether Dell PowerProtect Data Manager or PowerProtect X400 Firmware is deployed in your environment. Check product documentation or the management console for the product name.Affected if Any PowerProtect Data Manager or X400 system is present
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Check PowerProtect Data Manager versionLog into the Data Manager admin console or check the installed version via the system information page. Look for a version number such as 19.x. Compare your version to 19.4 - versions below 19.4 are affected.Affected if PowerProtect Data Manager version is below 19.4
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Check PowerProtect X400 Firmware versionAccess the X400 firmware management interface or check system firmware version information. Compare your version to 3.2 - versions below 3.2 are affected.Affected if PowerProtect X400 Firmware version is below 3.2
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Assess remote access exposureDetermine if the PowerProtect management interface or API is accessible from network locations outside the trusted internal network. Check firewall rules, NAT configurations, and VPN requirements for the management ports.Affected if The management interface is exposed to untrusted networks
If either PowerProtect Data Manager is below version 19.4 or X400 Firmware is below version 3.2, AND the management interface is remotely accessible, the environment is affected by this improper authorization vulnerability.
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 data3.219.4
Upgrade Dell PowerProtect Data Manager to version 19.4 or later, and PowerProtect X400 to version 3.2 or later to remediate this improper authorization vulnerability.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5356 — 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-2020-5356 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