CVE-2024-38341VulnerabilityPublished 28 May 2025

CVE-2024-38341: IBM Sterling Secure Proxy · Use of Weak Hash

Affects IBM Sterling Secure ProxySource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.9 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 14% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 May 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
IBM Sterling Secure Proxy	Affected =6.0.0.0 =6.1.0.0 =6.2.0.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Since no patches are currently linked, European organizations should immediately conduct an inventory to identify affected IBM Sterling Secure Proxy versions in their environment. Mitigation steps include: 1) Restrict network access to the proxy to trusted IP ranges and enforce strict firewall rules to limit exposure. 2) Implement network-level encryption and VPN tunnels to add layers of protection beyond the proxy’s own cryptography. 3) Monitor network traffic for unusual patterns that may indicate attempts to exploit weak cryptographic functions. 4) Engage with IBM support to obtain any available patches or recommended configuration changes that strengthen cryptographic algorithms. 5) Consider upgrading to later versions of Sterling Secure Proxy once patches are available or applying vendor-recommended cryptographic hardening. 6) Conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests focusing on cryptographic controls. 7) Ensure logging and alerting are enabled to detect potential data exfiltration attempts. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on limiting exposure, enhancing network security, and preparing for patch deployment.

Description

IBM Sterling Secure Proxy 6.0.0.0 through 6.0.3.1, 6.1.0.0 through 6.1.0.0, and 6.2.0.0 through 6.2.0.1 uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt highly sensitive information.

Impact

For European organizations, especially those in sectors relying on secure data exchange such as finance, manufacturing, and logistics, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality of sensitive information. IBM Sterling Secure Proxy is commonly used in supply chain and B2B integrations, which are critical in European markets. Exploitation could lead to exposure of trade secrets, personal data protected under GDPR, or other confidential business communications. Given the high attack complexity, exploitation may require sophisticated attacker capabilities, but the lack of required privileges or user interaction means that an attacker could attempt remote exploitation over the network. This could result in data breaches that have regulatory and reputational consequences. The vulnerability does not impact data integrity or system availability, so the threat is primarily data confidentiality loss. However, the sensitive nature of the data handled by Sterling Secure Proxy amplifies the potential impact. Organizations in Europe must consider the implications for compliance with data protection regulations and the potential financial and operational consequences of data exposure.

CWE-328Use of Weak Hash (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A04:2025: Cryptographic Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product uses an algorithm that produces a digest (output value) that does not meet security expectations for a hash function that allows an adversary to reasonably determine the original input (preimage attack), find another input that can produce the same hash (2nd preimage attack), or find multiple inputs that evaluate to the same hash (birthday attack).
Architecture and Design
Use an adaptive hash function that can be configured to change the amount of computational effort needed to compute the hash, such as the number of iterations ("stretching") or the amount of memory required. Some hash functions perform salting automatically.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Cryptographic Storage (opens in a new tab)
Key Management (opens in a new tab)
Transport Layer Protection (opens in a new tab)
User Privacy Protection (opens in a new tab)
Password Storage (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V2.8.3 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.7 (opens in a new tab)
V2.9.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Web Services API Signature Forgery Leveraging Hash Function Extension Weakness (opens in a new tab)
Subvert Code-signing Facilities (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7234888 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 08:25 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-328

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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