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CVE Record

CVE-2020-4180: IBM Security Guardium 11.1 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the...

IBM Security Guardium 11.1 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the system. By sending a specially-crafted request, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary commands on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 174735.

HighCVSS 8.8Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM Security Guardium 11.1 has a high-severity flaw that could let a low-privileged authenticated remote user run commands on the system. For executives, the concern is compromise of a security monitoring platform that may hold sensitive database activity data and privileged operational access.

Executive priority

Treat as priority remediation if Guardium 11.1 is present. The affected product is security-sensitive, the impact is full system compromise, and exploitation only requires authenticated low-privilege access.

Technical view

CVE-2020-4180 is authenticated remote command execution in IBM Security Guardium 11.1. The CVSS 3.0 score is 8.8 with network attack vector, low privileges, no user interaction, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. IBM describes exploitation through a specially crafted request.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to organizations running IBM Security Guardium 11.1, especially instances reachable by broad internal networks, administrators, analysts, integrations, or remote users with valid low-privilege accounts.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. The CVSS temporal vector marks exploit maturity as unproven and remediation level as official, but the bundle does not include patch version details.

Researcher notes

No CWE, request pattern, or detailed affected build range is provided in the bundle. Do not assume unauthenticated exposure or public exploit availability. Focus validation on version inventory, access paths, official IBM remediation, and evidence of suspicious authenticated activity.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify all IBM Security Guardium 11.1 deployments.
  • Review IBM advisory 6218960 for official remediation details.
  • Apply IBM-provided fix or upgrade guidance where applicable.
  • Restrict Guardium access to trusted administration networks.
  • Review and reduce low-privilege accounts with Guardium access.
  • Monitor Guardium logs for unusual requests or command execution indicators.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm whether any Guardium appliance reports version 11.1.
  • Check IBM advisory applicability against deployed build levels.
  • Verify remediation status using IBM-supported version or fix identifiers.
  • Review authentication logs for unexpected low-privilege access.
  • Assess whether Guardium interfaces are exposed beyond trusted networks.
  • Use only approved non-destructive validation or vendor scanner checks.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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CVE-2020-4180 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.8 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
3Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.8CVSS 3.0HighCVSS:3.0/AC:L/I:H/AV:N/S:U/A:H/UI:N/C:H/PR:L/RC:C/RL:O/E:U2.85.9Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

8.8High
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2020-4180Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
IBMSecurity Guardium11.1Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.