CVE-2020-9404
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 · uneditedIn PACTware before 4.1 SP6 and 5.x before 5.0.5.31, passwords are stored in an insecure manner, and may be modified by an attacker with no knowledge of the current passwords.
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 confidencePACTware versions before 4.1 SP6 and 5.x before 5.0.5.31 store user passwords insecurely, allowing an attacker to modify passwords without knowledge of the current password. This indicates either plaintext storage, reversible encryption, or a flawed password reset mechanism in the application's user authentication system.
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>= 5.0, < 5.0.5.31= 2.4= 3.0= 3.5= 3.6CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify PACTware installation and versionLocate the PACTware installation directory (typically in Program Files or Program Files (x86)). Right-click on the main executable (usually PACTware.exe or similar), select Properties, and view the Version tab to find the product version. Alternatively, check Add/Remove Programs for the installed version.Affected if The installed version is 5.0.x below 5.0.5.31, or exactly 2.4, 3.0, 3.5, or 3.6.
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Confirm exact version number matches affected rangeIf version appears to be 5.0.x, verify the full build number is below 5.0.5.31. For older versions 2.4, 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, confirm the precise installed version matches one of these.Affected if Version is exactly 2.4, 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, or falls between 5.0 and 5.0.5.31 (excluding 5.0.5.31).
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Locate PACTware configuration and data directoriesWithin the PACTware installation folder, examine subdirectories such as Config, Data, Settings, or UserData for configuration files. These directories typically store user preferences and authentication data.Affected if Configuration or data files exist in the PACTware installation directory.
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Inspect password storage in configuration filesOpen configuration files (typically .xml, .cfg, .ini, or .dat files) in the Config or Data folders. Search for entries containing 'password', 'pwd', or user credential fields. Examine whether passwords appear in plaintext, appear as encoded/encrypted strings, or follow a pattern indicating reversible encryption.Affected if Passwords are stored in plaintext, as easily reversible encoded strings, or the password change mechanism can be exploited without knowing the current password.
A user is affected if PACTware version is 2.4, 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, or any 5.0.x version below 5.0.5.31, and passwords are stored insecurely in the application's configuration files.
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 data5.0.5.31
Upgrade PACTware to version 4.1 SP6 or 5.0.5.31 or later. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, review and restrict access to the application's data files and configuration storage where passwords are persisted.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9404 — 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-2020-9404 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