NVD / CVE Program· CNA ibm

CVE-2020-4211: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: This week (action score 60/100)

The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 71% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.4% of all records.
Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system. By using a specially crafted HTTP command, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary command on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 175022.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded

BDU:2022-06185

Published: Feb 24, 2020
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
EPSS: 71.0% · 99th percentile
CWE: CWE-78

Report tools

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Action score

This week

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window.

CVSS: 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 21 / 30 · 71.0%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD: 9.8
CNA · ibm: 9.8; agree

CVSS:3.0/A:H/S:U/C:H/UI:N/I:H/AV:N/PR:N/AC:L/RC:C/E:U/RL:O

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
No public exploit code on record
No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
ibm	spectrum protect	cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spectrum_protect
linux	linux kernel	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

ibm spectrum protect10.1.0 and later · before 10.1.5
ibm spectrum protect10.1.5

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (ibm). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
- 10.1.0, 10.1.5affected

Same product

ibm: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2020-4222IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system.
44Plan
CVE-2020-4213IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system.
44Plan
CVE-2020-4210IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system.
44Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2019-4267Jul 22, 2019 · The IBM Spectrum Protect 7.1 and 8.1 Backup-Archive Client is vulnerable to a buffer overflow.
31Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2018-2025Nov 25, 2019 · IBM Spectrum Protect Backup-Archive Client and IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments 7.1 and 8.1 creates directories/files in the…
17Monitor
Later →CVE-2020-4212Feb 24, 2020 · IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system.
43Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

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Bug bounty scope

IBMHackerOne · disclosure only (VDP)

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
No account or password is required.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-78 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

User input is inserted as text into a shell command. The shell may interpret special characters in the input as part of the command.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-78 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

1const host = req.body.host;
2exec("ping -c 1 " + host, onResult);

Fixed

1const host = req.body.host;
2if (!/^[a-z0-9.-]{1,253}$/i.test(host)) return res.sendStatus(400);
3execFile("ping", ["-c", "1", host], onResult);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

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Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/175022

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records