# CVE-2019-4088: Privilege escalation in Spectrum Protect

> A local attacker can gain root privileges on IBM Spectrum Protect servers by loading a specially crafted library via the dsmqsan module.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:3.0/I:H/C:H/PR:N/A:H/S:U/AC:H/AV:L/UI:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Jul 2019
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x859-ppjw-c734

## What is CVE-2019-4088?

CVE-2019-4088 is a high-severity vulnerability in IBM Spectrum Protect, published on 2 Jul 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Spectrum Protect Servers 7.1 and 8.1 and Storage Agents could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the system, caused by loading a specially crafted library loaded by the dsmqsan module. By setting up such a library, a local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to gain root privileges on the vulnerable system. IBM X-Force ID: 157511.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-4088?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Spectrum Protect Operations Center.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-4088?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-4088 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-4088 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-4088 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Spectrum Protect

- [CVE-2019-4087](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4087/): Memory corruption in Spectrum Protect (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-4693](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4693/): Code injection in Spectrum Protect Operations Center (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2020-4955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4955/): File upload in Spectrum Protect Operations Center (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2022-22485](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22485/): Auth bypass in Spectrum Protect Server (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2020-4771](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4771/): Auth bypass in Spectrum Protect Operations Center (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-4088 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-4088 is a high-severity vulnerability in IBM Spectrum Protect, published on 2 Jul 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-4088 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Spectrum Protect. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4088/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4088/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-4088
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-4088
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-4088

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4088/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.