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Security Guardium Key Lifecycle ManagerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2023-47702

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.2.0.2 or later.
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
IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.3 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 modify files on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 271196.

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

A path traversal vulnerability in IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.3 allows remote attackers to escape the web root and access arbitrary files on the system by using '../' sequences in crafted URL requests. This critical flaw (CVSS 9.1) enables attackers to view and potentially modify sensitive files outside the intended application directories.

MitigationApply IBM's security patch for this vulnerability (refer to IBM X-Force ID 271196). Additionally, implement input validation to reject path traversal characters in URL parameters and restrict file system access permissions to limit exposure if exploitation occurs.

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
Security Guardium Key Lifecycle ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 4.2.0, < 4.2.0.2

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. Confirm IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager is installed
    Locate the product installation directory or check system inventory for IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager
    Affected if The product is not present on the system
  2. Identify the installed version
    Use the product's version reporting mechanism, typically via command line or administrative console, to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or is outside the product's supported versions
  3. Compare your version to the affected range
    Verify the installed version falls within >= 4.2.0 and < 4.2.0.2
    Affected if The installed version is 4.2.0 through 4.2.0.1 inclusive
  4. Check if the web application service is running
    Confirm the IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager web interface is active and accessible, as the vulnerability is exploitable via HTTP requests
    Affected if The web service is exposed and the version is within the affected range

You are affected if IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager version 4.2.0 through 4.2.0.1 is installed with the web interface enabled.

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 4.2.0.2 or later
Fixed in 4.2.0.2
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM's security patch for this vulnerability (refer to IBM X-Force ID 271196). Additionally, implement input validation to reject path traversal characters in URL parameters and restrict file system access permissions to limit exposure if exploitation occurs.

Recommended fix High confidence

4.2.0.2

  1. 1. Back up the current IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager configuration and data
  2. 2. Download IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager version 4.2.0.2 from IBM Fix Central or authorized IBM distribution channels
  3. 3. Stop the Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager services
  4. 4. Install the version 4.2.0.2 update following IBM's standard installation procedures
  5. 5. Verify the installation completed successfully
  6. 6. Restart the Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager services
  7. 7. Validate that the path traversal vulnerability is no longer exploitable by testing with the "dot dot" sequence (/../) patterns

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

Fix this in Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2023-47702 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