Threats / IBM / CVE-2020-4427
CVE-2020-4427
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
IBM Data Risk Manager vulnerability
IBM Data Risk Manager contains a security bypass vulnerability in SAML authentication that allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative access via specially crafted HTTP requests.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A remote attacker can exploit this authentication bypass to gain full administrative control of IBM Data Risk Manager systems configured with SAML, enabling complete compromise of sensitive data governance and risk management functions.
CISA KEV Yes · 2021-11-035EPSS 0.70031 (verify live)6CVSS 93CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total4Exploit Weaponized · public exploit · Metasploit module · nuclei template12
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
91 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.70031 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9 (CVSS:3.0/I:H/UI:N/PR:N/C:H/A:H/AV:N/S:C/AC:H/RL:O/RC:C/E:U) · Affected: IBM, Data Risk Manager. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.0, set at disclosure.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 545 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module, nuclei template. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious HTTP request targeting the SAML authentication mechanism to bypass security controls.
Business
Authentication controls fail, exposing administrative access to unauthorized parties.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I gain unauthenticated administrative access to the Data Risk Manager system without valid credentials.
Business
Administrative privileges are compromised, eliminating access controls and audit trails.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I access and manipulate sensitive data classifications, risk assessments, and governance policies within the system.
Business
Data governance framework is undermined, risking unauthorized data exposure and compliance violations.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05