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Spectrum Protect Plus CVE-2020-4469

CRITICAL
OS Command Injection (CWE-78)
2020-06-15 psirt@us.ibm.com
9.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization OS command sanitization, avoid shell exec
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 1 tactic: Execution

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
Patch available 13.4% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This OS Command Injection vulnerability could allow attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Avoid passing user input to shell commands. Use language-specific APIs instead of shell execution. Apply strict input validation with allowlists.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 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. This vulnerability is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2020-4211. IBM X-Force ID: 181724. Affected products include: Ibm Spectrum Protect Plus. Version information: through 10.1.5.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 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. This vulnerability is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2020-4211. IBM X-Force ID: 181724.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
13.4%
Top 4% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 13.4%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

62
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +13
CVSS: +49
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spectrum_protect_plus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2020-4854 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 23

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 thorugh 10.1.6 contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key

CVE-2020-4216 CRITICAL
9.8 Jun 15

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key

CVE-2020-4208 CRITICAL
9.8 Mar 31

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key

CVE-2021-39063 CRITICAL
9.1 Dec 13

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0.0 through 10.1.8.x uses Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) which could allow an attac

CVE-2020-4242 HIGH
8.8 Mar 31

IBM Spectrum Scale and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to ex

CVE-2020-4241 HIGH
8.8 Mar 31

IBM Spectrum Scale and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to ex

CVE-2020-4206 HIGH
8.8 Mar 31

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the syste

CVE-2021-39057 HIGH
8.1 Dec 13

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0.0 through 10.1.8.x is vulnerable to server-side request forgery (SSRF). Rated high seve

CVE-2020-4703 HIGH
8.0 Sep 15

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.6 Administrative Console could allow an authenticated attacker to upload a

CVE-2020-4470 HIGH
8.0 Jun 15

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.5 Administrative Console could allow an authenticated attacker to upload a

CVE-2018-1768 HIGH
7.8 Sep 26

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 and 10.1.1 could disclose sensitive information when an authorized user executes a test

CVE-2022-40608 HIGH
7.5 Sep 19

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.6 through 10.1.11 Microsoft File Systems restore operation can download any file on the t

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