# CVE-2019-4720: Denial of service in WebSphere Application Server

> A remote attacker can cause IBM WebSphere Application Server to consume all available memory via a specially-crafted request, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AC:L/C:N/I:N/PR:N/A:H/AV:N/UI:N/S:U/E:U/RC:C/RL:O`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 31 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-98gw-vm9q-rvgg

## What is CVE-2019-4720?

CVE-2019-4720 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Ibm Websphere Application Server, published on 31 Jan 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by sending a specially-crafted request. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause the server to consume all available memory. IBM X-Force ID: 172125.

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-4720?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Websphere Application Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-4720?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-4720 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-4720 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-4720 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Websphere Application Server

- [CVE-2015-1920](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1920/): Code injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2013-0462](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0462/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2011-1377](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1377/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-3186](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3186/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-1899](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1899/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-4720 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-4720 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Ibm Websphere Application Server, published on 31 Jan 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-4720 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Websphere Application Server. 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-2019-4720/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4720/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-4720
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-4720
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-4720

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4720/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.