CVE-2023-33861 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in IBM Security ReaQta EDR version 3.12. The root cause is improper certificate validation (CWE-295), which allows an attacker to spoof a trusted entity by interfering with the communication path between the host and client components of the endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution. Specifically, the vulnerability arises because the product fails to properly validate the authenticity of certificates used in its communication channels. This flaw can enable a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacker to impersonate legitimate components or servers, potentially injecting malicious commands or intercepting sensitive data. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.5, reflecting a network attack vector with low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, and impacts on confidentiality and integrity but not availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been published yet. Given that ReaQta EDR is a security product designed to detect and respond to threats, compromising its communication trust model could undermine the security posture of affected endpoints by allowing attackers to bypass detection or manipulate telemetry data.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk because IBM Security ReaQta EDR is used to protect critical infrastructure, enterprise networks, and sensitive data environments. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to intercept or alter security telemetry, leading to undetected intrusions or false security alerts. This undermines incident response capabilities and could facilitate lateral movement or data exfiltration. Confidentiality is primarily impacted as attackers could gain access to sensitive information exchanged between EDR components. Integrity is also affected since attackers could manipulate commands or data streams. Availability is not directly impacted. The risk is heightened for organizations in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government, where endpoint security is critical for compliance with GDPR and other data protection laws. The lack of required authentication or user interaction means attackers can exploit this remotely over the network, increasing the threat surface.

Organizations should prioritize upgrading IBM Security ReaQta EDR to a patched version once available from IBM. Until a patch is released, network-level mitigations should be implemented, including enforcing strict network segmentation to isolate EDR communication channels and deploying TLS inspection to detect anomalous certificate usage. Use network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) to monitor for unusual man-in-the-middle activity or certificate anomalies. Additionally, organizations should audit and harden their certificate management processes, ensuring that only trusted certificates are accepted and that certificate pinning or mutual TLS authentication is enabled if supported. Endpoint and network logs should be closely monitored for signs of suspicious activity related to EDR communications. Finally, consider deploying additional endpoint security layers to detect potential tampering or spoofing attempts.