dbcve.org
Businessobjects Business Intelligence PlatformApplication · Sap

CVE-2020-6294

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-12
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
Xvfb of SAP Business Objects Business Intelligence Platform, versions - 4.2, 4.3, platform on Unix does not perform any authentication checks for functionalities that require user identity.

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

The Xvfb (X Virtual Framebuffer) component in SAP Business Objects Business Intelligence Platform versions 4.2 and 4.3 on Unix systems lacks authentication checks for functionalities requiring user identity, allowing unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive BI platform functions.

MitigationApply SAP security patches when available; until then, restrict network access to the Xvfb component using firewalls or network segmentation, and monitor for unauthorized access 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
Businessobjects Business Intelligence PlatformApplication
Affected:= 4.2= 4.3

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
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 SAP BusinessObjects installation and version
    Locate the BusinessObjects installation directory (commonly under /opt/sap/ or /usr/sap/) and check the version. Use command: cat <install_path>/businessobjects/enterprise_xi40/..properties or check installer logs for version 4.2 or 4.3
    Affected if The installed version equals 4.2 or 4.3 exactly (not a range, specific versions listed in CVE)
  2. Verify Xvfb component presence
    Check if Xvfb is installed on the Unix system: which xvfb-run or dpkg -l | grep xvfb or ps aux | grep Xvfb. Xvfb is typically in /usr/bin/X11/ or similar X11 paths
    Affected if Xvfb is installed and running as a process on the system
  3. Confirm BusinessObjects is using Xvfb
    Check BusinessObjects configuration files for Xvfb references, particularly in the CMS or web tier configuration. Look for Xvfb paths in businessobjects configuration directories
    Affected if BusinessObjects is configured to use Xvfb for rendering or headless operations
  4. Assess network exposure of Xvfb service
    Check if Xvfb listens on network ports: netstat -anp | grep Xvfb or ss -tlnp | grep -i xvfb. Review firewall rules and network access controls for X11 port ranges (commonly 6000-6005)
    Affected if Xvfb is bound to a network interface and accessible from untrusted networks

A system is affected if SAP BusinessObjects version 4.2 or 4.3 is installed with Xvfb running and exposed on the network without authentication controls.

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

Apply SAP security patches when available; until then, restrict network access to the Xvfb component using firewalls or network segmentation, and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SAP Business Objects BI Platform 4.2 SP06 or later / 4.3 SP03 or later (apply latest available Support Package Stack)

  1. Review SAP Security Note 2958522 (or the relevant security note for CVE-2020-6294) for this specific vulnerability
  2. Apply the latest available Support Package Stack (SPS) for your SAP Business Objects BI Platform version
  3. For version 4.2, apply the latest available patch that addresses this authentication bypass in Xvfb
  4. For version 4.3, apply the latest available patch that addresses this authentication bypass in Xvfb
  5. After patching, verify that Xvfb on Unix now properly performs authentication checks for user identity-dependent functionalities
  6. Test to confirm the fix does not break existing functionality that relies on Xvfb
  7. If no vendor patch is available, consider restricting network access to Unix servers running Business Objects BI Platform as a temporary mitigation
Caveat Review SAP release notes for the target SPS for any configuration or compatibility changes; some Xvfb-related functionality may require updated authentication configuration

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

Fix this in Businessobjects Business Intelligence Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
42.0 hours of engineering $7,360
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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-2020-6294 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