LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2020-4891: IBM Spectrum Scale 5.0.0 through 5.0.5.5 and 5.1.0 through 5.1.0.2 uses an inadequate account lockout setti...

IBM Spectrum Scale 5.0.0 through 5.0.5.5 and 5.1.0 through 5.1.0.2 uses an inadequate account lockout setting that could allow a local user er to brute force Rest API account credentials. IBM X-Force ID: 190974.

MediumCVSS 6.2Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM Spectrum Scale had weak account lockout behavior in listed 5.0 and 5.1 releases. A local user could repeatedly guess REST API account credentials, creating a confidentiality risk if credentials were recovered. The issue is medium severity, but should be prioritized on shared systems or environments with many local users.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate-priority infrastructure issue. Escalate if affected Spectrum Scale systems are shared, store sensitive data, or allow broad local user access. No active exploitation is evidenced in the provided sources.

Technical view

CVE-2020-4891 affects IBM Spectrum Scale 5.0.0 through 5.0.5.5 and 5.1.0 through 5.1.0.2. The flaw is an inadequate account lockout setting that could permit local brute force attempts against REST API account credentials. CVSS 3.0 score is 6.2 with local attack vector and high confidentiality impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely on IBM Spectrum Scale deployments running the affected versions, especially where local users can access systems hosting the REST API environment. The provided sources do not identify exposure for other IBM products or unsupported version ranges.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. The described attack requires local access and focuses on brute forcing REST API credentials, not remote unauthenticated exploitation.

Researcher notes

No CWE is listed in the bundle. CVSS indicates AV:L, AC:L, PR:N, UI:N, S:U, C:H, I:N, A:N. The evidence supports local credential brute force risk only. It does not support claims of remote exploitation, public exploit availability, or exploitation in the wild.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify all IBM Spectrum Scale deployments and versions.
  • Check IBM advisory guidance for official remediation.
  • Apply the IBM-recommended fix or upgrade path for affected releases.
  • Restrict local access to trusted administrators where possible.
  • Review REST API account lockout and authentication monitoring controls.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm deployed versions are outside the affected ranges.
  • Verify IBM advisory remediation is applied and recorded.
  • Review authentication logs for repeated REST API login failures.
  • Confirm local user access is limited to approved personnel.
  • Document residual exposure for any systems awaiting remediation.
Prepared
Confidence
high
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

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2020-4891 mapping review

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

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.2 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

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
6.2CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/UI:N/AV:L/I:N/C:H/A:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:L/E:U/RC:C/RL:O2.53.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

6.2Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2020-4891Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

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
IBMSpectrum Scale5.0.0, 5.0.5.5, 5.1.0, 5.1.0.2Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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