# CVE-2020-4689: Command injection in Security Guardium

> A remote privileged attacker can execute arbitrary commands on IBM Security Guardium due to improper validation of CSV file contents.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.0/UI:R/I:H/C:H/A:H/S:U/PR:H/AC:L/AV:N/RC:C/E:U/RL:O`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5q7j-38f7-wf38

## What is CVE-2020-4689?

CVE-2020-4689 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Ibm Security Guardium, published on 12 Oct 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

IBM Security Guardium 11.2 is vulnerable to CVS Injection. A remote privileged attacker could execute arbitrary commands on the system, caused by improper validation of csv file contents. IBM X-ForceID: 186696.

Weakness: CWE-1236 (Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-4689?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Security Guardium.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-4689?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-4689 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-4689 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-4689 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Security Guardium

- [CVE-2023-35893](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35893/): IBM Security Guardium command execution (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2017-1253](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1253/): Command injection in Security Guardium (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2017-1269](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1269/): SQL injection in Security Guardium (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-47709](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47709/): IBM Security Guardium command injection (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2023-30435](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-30435/): IBM Security Guardium cross-site scripting (high 8.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-4689 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-4689 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Ibm Security Guardium, published on 12 Oct 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-4689 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Security Guardium. 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-2020-4689/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4689/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-4689
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-4689
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-4689

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4689/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.