# CVE-2020-5021: Auth bypass in Spectrum Protect Plus

> Local users can impersonate others because sessions are not invalidated after password resets in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AC:H/C:L/PR:N/UI:N/A:N/AV:L/I:L/S:U/RC:C/RL:O/E:U`)
- **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:** 8 Jan 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6rqr-xfwj-w2q9

## What is CVE-2020-5021?

CVE-2020-5021 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, published on 8 Jan 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 through 10.1.6 does not invalidate session after a password reset which could allow a local user to impersonate another user on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 193657.

Weakness: CWE-384 (Session Fixation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-5021?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Spectrum Protect Plus.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-5021?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-5021 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-5021 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-5021 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

- [CVE-2020-4854](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4854/): Hardcoded credentials in Spectrum Protect Plus (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-4242](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4242/): Command injection in Spectrum Protect Plus (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-4357](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-4357/): Code injection in Spectrum Protect Plus (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2020-4469](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4469/): Command injection in Spectrum Protect Plus (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2020-4703](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-4703/): File upload in Spectrum Protect Plus (high 8.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-5021 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-5021 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, published on 8 Jan 2021. 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-2020-5021 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. 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-2020-5021/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5021/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-5021
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5021
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-5021

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5021/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.