CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-4278 — Ibm Platform Lsf security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

IBM Platform LSF 9.1 and 10.1, IBM Spectrum LSF Suite 10.2, and IBM Spectrum Suite for HPA 10.2 could allow a local user to escalate their privileges due to weak file permissions when specific debug settings are enabled in a Linux or Unix enviornment. IBM X-Force ID: 176137.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-03-05
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-732

Affected products

  • ibm / platform_lsf / 9.1
  • ibm / platform_lsf / 10.1
  • ibm / spectrum_computing_for_high_performance_analytics / 10.2
  • ibm / spectrum_lsf / 10.2

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.