What is CVE-2020-4561?

CVE-2020-4561 is a critical-severity vulnerability in IBM Cognos Analytics, classified under Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere. CVSS score: 10.0/10. Published 2021-06-01.

How severe is CVE-2020-4561?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 10.0 out of 10.

Vulnerability in IBM Cognos Analytics

CVE-2020-4561

IBM Cognos Analytics 11.0 and 11.1 DQM API allows submitting of all control requests in unauthenticated sessions. This allows a remote attacker who can access a valid CA endpoint to read and write files to the Cognos Analytics system. IBM X-Force ID: 183903.

Published 2021-06-01 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 10.0 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.029 (86.9th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 87th percentile — 86.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.029 · newest: 0.029 · change: 0.000

Affected products

IBM Cognos Analytics — versions 11.0, 11.1
IBM Cognos Analytics — versions 11.0.0, 11.1.0
NetApp Oncommand Insight

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-829 — Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere

References

www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6451705 (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/183903 (VDB Entry, vdb-entry, Vendor Advisory)
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210622-0004/ (Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-4561?: CVE-2020-4561 is a critical-severity vulnerability in IBM Cognos Analytics, classified under Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere. CVSS score: 10.0/10. Published 2021-06-01.
How severe is CVE-2020-4561?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 10.0 out of 10.