LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2021-20564: IBM Cloud Pak for Security (CP4S) 1.4.0.0, 1.5.0.0, 1.5.0.1, 1.6.0.0, and 1.6.0.1 could allow a remote atta...

IBM Cloud Pak for Security (CP4S) 1.4.0.0, 1.5.0.0, 1.5.0.1, 1.6.0.0, and 1.6.0.1 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the failure to properly enable HTTP Strict Transport Security. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 199235.

MediumCVSS 5.9Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM Cloud Pak for Security versions 1.4.0.0, 1.5.0.0, 1.5.0.1, 1.6.0.0, and 1.6.0.1 may expose sensitive information because HTTP Strict Transport Security was not properly enabled. The business risk is confidentiality loss under man-in-the-middle conditions, not system takeover.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate-priority confidentiality issue. Prioritize remediation for externally reachable or broadly accessible CP4S environments, especially where administrators connect from variable networks.

Technical view

CVE-2021-20564 is a network-accessible information disclosure issue in IBM CP4S caused by improper HSTS enablement. CVSS 3.0 is 5.9 with high confidentiality impact, high attack complexity, no privileges required, and no integrity or availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to organizations running the listed IBM Cloud Pak for Security versions. Risk is highest where users or services access CP4S across networks where traffic interception is plausible.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show active exploitation. CISA KEV is false, and the CVSS exploit-code maturity signal is unproven. Exploitation depends on man-in-the-middle positioning, reflected by high attack complexity.

Researcher notes

Evidence is official but sparse in the provided bundle. No CWE is listed. Fixed-version details are not included here, so validation should rely on IBM advisory content and local CP4S version evidence.

Mitigation direction

  • Review IBM advisory 6453115 for official remediation guidance.
  • Upgrade affected CP4S deployments to an IBM-supported fixed version where available.
  • Verify HSTS is enabled according to IBM deployment guidance.
  • Limit CP4S access to trusted networks until remediation is complete.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory CP4S deployments for affected versions listed in the CVE.
  • Confirm HTTPS responses include a valid Strict-Transport-Security header after remediation.
  • Review ingress, proxy, and TLS termination layers for HSTS handling.
  • Check vendor advisory status before closing remediation tickets.
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

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-2021-20564 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
5.9 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/PR:N/UI:N/I:N/AC:H/AV:N/C:H/A:N/S:U/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
5.9CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/PR:N/UI:N/I:N/AC:H/AV:N/C:H/A:N/S:U/RC:C/RL:O/E:U2.23.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.9Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-20564Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/PR:N/UI:N/I:N/AC:H/AV:N/C:H/A:N/S:U/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
IBMCloud Pak for Security1.4.0.0, 1.6.0.0, 1.5.0.1, 1.5.0.0, 1.6.0.1Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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