CVE-2020-6304
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 · uneditedImproper input validation in SAP NetWeaver Internet Communication Manager (update provided in KRNL32NUC & KRNL32UC 7.21, 7.21EXT, 7.22, 7.22EXT KRNL64NUC & KRNL64UC 7.21, 7.21EXT, 7.22, 7.22EXT, 7.49 KERNEL 7.21, 7.49, 7.53) allows an attacker to prevent users from accessing its services through a denial of service.
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 confidenceImproper input validation vulnerability in SAP NetWeaver Internet Communication Manager allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by sending specially crafted requests that trigger the validation failure and crash the ICM service, preventing legitimate user access.
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= 7.21= 7.22= 7.49= 7.53= 7.21= 7.21ext= 7.22= 7.22ext= 7.21= 7.21ext= 7.22= 7.22ext= 7.21= 7.21ext= 7.22= 7.22ext= 7.49= 7.21= 7.21ext= 7.22= 7.22ext= 7.49CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the SAP kernel versionExecute command 'sapcontrol -nr <instance> -function GetVersion' or check the SAP kernel executable version in the /sapmnt/<SID>/exe or /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/exe/run directory. Look for the kernel release file or binary version information.Affected if The kernel version matches 7.21, 7.22, 7.49, or 7.53 (for 'kernel' variant) or the specific versions listed for krnl32nuc, krnl32uc, krnl64nuc, or krnl64uc variants.
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Determine the kernel variant typeIdentify which kernel binary variant is running: check the file names in the kernel directory (such as 'disp+work.exe', 'sapkernel', or related binaries) or use transaction SM51 to view the kernel release details which shows the variant (e.g., KRNL64UC, KRNL64NUC).Affected if The system uses any of the affected kernel variants: kernel, krnl32nuc, krnl32uc, krnl64nuc, or krnl64uc combined with an affected version.
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Verify ICM is enabled and exposedCheck ICM configuration via transaction SICF or by reviewing the ICM configuration parameters (icm/server_port_0, icm/HTTP/acl) in the DEFAULT.PFL profile. The vulnerability requires ICM to be active and accessible over network.Affected if ICM is enabled and exposed to network (internal or external), which makes the denial of service condition exploitable.
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Confirm kernel patch levelReview the complete kernel version string including patch number (for example, 7.49 PL 500). Use transaction SM51 and right-click for detailed release information, or run 'sapkernel -v' at OS level.Affected if The installed patch level corresponds to one of the specific versions listed in the affected products (exact version match required).
The environment is affected if the SAP NetWeaver kernel version matches one of the listed affected versions (7.21, 7.22, 7.49, 7.53 for kernel variant or equivalent for krnl variants) AND ICM is enabled and accessible.
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 SAP kernel updates (KRNL32NUC/KRNL32UC 7.21-7.22EXT, KRNL64NUC/KRNL64UC 7.21-7.49, KERNEL 7.21/7.49/7.53) per SAP Security Note 2952586. Test in non-production first and plan maintenance window for the kernel patch.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6304 — 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-2020-6304 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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- 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
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