# CVE-2020-4207: Memory corruption in IoT MessageSight

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via a buffer overflow in IBM Watson IoT Message Gateway.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/S:U/A:H/I:H/AC:L/C:H/AV:N/UI:N/PR:N/RL:O/E:U/RC:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p3wr-rj67-3cjc

## What is CVE-2020-4207?

CVE-2020-4207 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in IBM IoT MessageSight, published on 28 Jan 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Watson IoT Message Gateway 2.0.0.x, 5.0.0.0, 5.0.0.1, and 5.0.0.2 is vulnerable to a buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking when handling a failed HTTP request with specific content in the headers. By sending a specially crafted HTTP request, a remote attacker could overflow a buffer and execute arbitrary code on the system or cause a denial of service. IBM X-Force ID: 174972.

Weakness: CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-4207?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Ibm Iot Messagesight, Ibm Watson Iot Platform - Message Gateway.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-4207?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-4207 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-4207 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-4207 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-4207 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-4207 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in IBM IoT MessageSight, published on 28 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-2020-4207 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM IoT MessageSight. 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-2020-4207/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4207/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-4207
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-4207
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-4207

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4207/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.