CVE-2020-4462

IBM Sterling External Authentication Server 6.0.1, 6.0.0, 2.4.3.2, and 2.4.2 and IBM Sterling Secure Proxy 6.0.1, 6.0.0, 3.4.3, and 3.4.2 are vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 181482.

Published: 2020-07-16 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-4462 is rated High Risk (65.4/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.25%). EPSS rose +2.27% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-4462

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.98% 3.25% +2.27%
2 2025-03-30 2.23% 0.98% -1.25%
3 2025-03-29 — 2.23% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-4462

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 4.2 [email protected]
8.2 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 4.2 [email protected]
6.4 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-4462

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-4462

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ibm sterling_external_authentication_server 2.4.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_external_authentication_server:2.4.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_external_authentication_server 2.4.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_external_authentication_server:2.4.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_external_authentication_server 6.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_external_authentication_server:6.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_external_authentication_server 6.0.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_external_authentication_server:6.0.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_secure_proxy 3.4.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_secure_proxy:3.4.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_secure_proxy 3.4.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_secure_proxy:3.4.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_secure_proxy 6.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_secure_proxy:6.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm sterling_secure_proxy 6.0.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_secure_proxy:6.0.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-4462

cvelogic Threat Intelligence