`CVE-2020-4576`

7.5 High No fix identified

Description

IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 traditional could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information with a specially-crafted sequence of serialized objects. IBM X-Force ID: 184428.

Exploitation Status

No public exploit

Nothing published shows this CVE being exploited, which is not the same as ruling it out. nothing published in 5 years.

CVSS E:U

CISA KEV not listed
CISA Vulnrichment no assessment published
Indexed PoC none indexed
EPSS 2.0% chance in 30 days

Waratek Defense Posture

No fix identified

In RASP's scope, but nothing published names a fix and nothing published shows an exploit. Neither of the two things VRT can act on exists, which is a claim about the available evidence, not about the vulnerability.

Protection none
Action not-needed
Review automated upstream-data
Record active

Decided by no-exploit : With no fix path, a public exploit, or a CISA record of one

Finding Resolved from QUEUED-FOR-REVIEW: this CVE affects a known product, but nothing published names a fix and nothing published shows an exploit. That is a statement about the evidence, not about the defect — it does not mean the vulnerability is unimportant or unreachable, only that neither of the two things VRT can act on exists.

Decided by	`no-exploit` : With no fix path, a public exploit, or a CISA record of one
Finding	Resolved from QUEUED-FOR-REVIEW: this CVE affects a known product, but nothing published names a fix and nothing published shows an exploit. That is a statement about the evidence, not about the defect — it does not mean the vulnerability is unimportant or unreachable, only that neither of the two things VRT can act on exists.

CVSS

7.5 HIGH v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 3 metrics

VRT selects the newest version's highest entry and publishes it as cvssScore, newest rather than largest because scores are not comparable across versions, and highest rather than first because the first entry is frequently a CNA placeholder scoring 0.0 over NVD's own analysis.

Version Score Band Vector Assigner Type

CVSS 3.1 7.5 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N NVD Primary published

CVSS 3.0 5.3 MEDIUM CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N psirt@us.ibm.com Secondary

CVSS 2.0 5.0 no band published AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N NVD Primary

Version	Score	Band	Vector	Assigner	Type
CVSS 3.1	7.5	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`	NVD	Primary	published
CVSS 3.0	5.3	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`	psirt@us.ibm.com	Secondary
CVSS 2.0	5.0	no band published	`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`	NVD	Primary

Affected Software & Releases

🖥️ Product CPEs & Version Ranges

1 product(s) over 4 version claims (uncapped)

Source	Vendor	Product	Scheme	Affected Versions
nvd	ibm	websphere application server	generic	≥ 7.0.0.0 and ＜ 7.0.0.45 · ≥ 8.0.0.0 and ＜ 8.0.0.15 · ≥ 8.5.0.0 and ＜ 8.5.5.19 · ≥ 9.0.0.0 and ＜ 9.0.5.6

Source

Vendor

Product

Scheme

Affected Versions

nvd

ibm

websphere application server

generic

≥ 7.0.0.0 and ＜ 7.0.0.45 · ≥ 8.0.0.0 and ＜ 8.0.0.15 · ≥ 8.5.0.0 and ＜ 8.5.5.19 · ≥ 9.0.0.0 and ＜ 9.0.5.6

References

URL	Tags
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/184428	VDB Entry, Vendor Advisory
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6339807	Vendor Advisory

URL

Timeline

Published 2020-10-01 Last modified 2026-06-17

Published	2020-10-01	By the CVE Program.
NVD record modified	2026-06-17	NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Published

2020-10-01

By the CVE Program.

NVD record modified

2026-06-17

NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Pipeline policy audit (17 of 21 rules evaluated)

17 of 21 rules ran. The rest were never reached, because an earlier stage settled the CVE, a distinct claim from a rule that ran and found nothing.

# Rule Outcome Status Detail

identity: Does this identifier describe a vulnerability at all? first match wins

1 rejected no-match CVE Program withdrawal of this identifier

scope: Is the vulnerability ARMR's to address? first match wins

2 armr-patch-file no-match An ARMR patch file on disk for this CVE

3 armr-secure-rule-file no-match An ARMR security-rule template on disk for this CVE

4 manual-classification no-match A researcher's recorded decision for this specific CVE

5 manual classification no-match Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset

6 non-java-upstream no-match A root cause in non-Java code: an OS kernel, a C library, or a bundled runtime

7 oracle-component no-match The defect being in a component of a tracked product the agent does not reach: JavaFX, the Java SE installer, the native WebLogic proxy plug-in. Oracle gives these no CPE of their own and names them only in the description.

8 osv-maven no-match An OSV.dev record of this CVE affecting a package published to Maven Central

9 cna-maven-package no-match An affected Maven artifact named by the CNA itself

10 known-cpe-product matched Queued for review Matches known products: ibm/websphere_application_server

11 cna-cpe-product not-reached A CPE the CNA published naming a tracked product. Oracle publishes these on advisory day, months before NVD.

12 oracle-advisory-family not-reached A tracked product family named in Oracle's own risk matrix. CPE cannot carry a suite name, only a module.

13 non-deployable-product not-reached The only affected product being a sealed appliance image, where Java runs but no -javaagent can be attached

14 unmatched-product not-reached No tracked product matched above, and none present at all

disposition: What do we do about one that is? cumulative: every rule gets a turn

15 patch-hint no-match A reference pointing at the upstream fix: a commit, a PR, a Red Hat bug

16 open-source-maven no-match The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read

17 poc-derivable no-match An indexed exploit to reverse-engineer, where there is no source to read

18 no-exploit decided it matched No fix identified No public exploits or POCs found in Exploit-DB, Nuclei templates, or GitHub POC repositories, and CISA's Vulnrichment assessment records no demonstrated exploit. No upstream fix reference or open-source Maven package was found either, so there is nothing to act on from either direction.

19 secure-rule-match no-match A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule

20 below-action-threshold skipped Medium or Low severity, no KEV listing, no PoC clearing the evidence bar, no CISA verdict, no Oracle advisory

21 no-exploit-published skipped A published working exploit for this candidate, not only a proof of concept, a forecast, or nothing at all

What the scope rules read

The products the record named, and whether known-products.yaml tracks them. This is the evidence the scope stage decided on.

Vendor Product Tracked CPE Source

ibm websphere_application_server tracked cpe:2.3:a:ibm:websphere_application_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* yaml

Raw stored JSON document for this CVE ↗ · NVD ↗ · CVE.org ↗