CVE-2020-4273

Local privilege escalation to root

Published Apr 3, 2020 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

IBM Spectrum Scale 4.2 and 5.0 allow local unprivileged attackers to execute commands as root via specially crafted input. IBM has not published the vulnerable command, parser, or input-handling operation; the bulletin only identifies specially crafted input as the trigger. Reachability requires local access and intimate environment knowledge, but successful exploitation grants root-level command execution affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

CVSS severity7.4
High
EPSS probability0.40%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

IBM Spectrum Scale 4.2 and 5.0 allow local unprivileged attackers to execute commands as root via specially crafted input. IBM has not published the vulnerable command, parser, or input-handling operation; the bulletin only identifies specially crafted input as the trigger. Reachability requires local access and intimate environment knowledge, but successful exploitation grants root-level command execution affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-4273
Published
Apr 3, 2020
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
IBM
Product
IBM Spectrum Scale
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 3, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4.2
  2. Affected versionversion=5.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

IBM · IBM Spectrum Scaleversion=4.2; version=5.0

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.9NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
7.4IBM CorporationCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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