CVE-2024-39745VulnerabilityPublished 22 Aug 2024Updated 13 Mar 2026

CVE-2024-39745: IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services · Weak Cryptography

Affects IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web ServicesSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.9 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.9Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 22% 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 22 Aug 2024
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 2026-10-25.

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 Connect:Direct Web Services	Affected =6.0 =6.1 =6.2 =6.3	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately review their deployment of IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services versions 6.0 through 6.3 and identify whether weak cryptographic algorithms are in use. Specific mitigation steps include: 1) Disable or remove support for deprecated or weak ciphers and algorithms within the Sterling Connect:Direct configuration, replacing them with strong, industry-standard cryptographic protocols such as AES with 256-bit keys and secure TLS versions (1.2 or higher). 2) Monitor IBM’s official security advisories and apply patches or updates as soon as they become available to address this vulnerability directly. 3) Conduct a thorough audit of all data transmissions and storage handled by Sterling Connect:Direct to ensure no sensitive data has been exposed. 4) Implement network-level protections such as segmentation and intrusion detection systems to detect anomalous decryption attempts or suspicious traffic patterns. 5) Educate security teams about this vulnerability to increase vigilance for potential exploitation attempts. 6) Consider deploying additional encryption layers at the application or file level as a compensating control until the vulnerability is fully remediated. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on cryptographic configuration hardening and proactive monitoring tailored to this specific vulnerability.

Description

IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt highly sensitive information.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-39745 is the potential unauthorized disclosure of highly sensitive information due to weak encryption in IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services. Organizations relying on this software for secure file transfers risk data breaches that could expose confidential business data, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information. Such exposure can lead to financial losses, regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust. Since the vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability, the threat is focused on confidentiality compromise. The high attack complexity reduces the likelihood of widespread exploitation, but motivated attackers with sufficient resources could still exploit the weakness remotely without authentication. This risk is particularly critical for industries such as finance, healthcare, government, and manufacturing, where Sterling Connect:Direct is commonly deployed. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for organizations to remediate before active attacks emerge. However, failure to address this vulnerability could lead to targeted attacks against critical data flows, especially in regions with high adoption of IBM enterprise solutions.

CWE-327Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A04:2025: Cryptographic Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product uses a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm or protocol.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
When there is a need to store or transmit sensitive data, use strong, up-to-date cryptographic algorithms to encrypt that data. Select a well-vetted algorithm that is currently considered to be strong by experts in the field, and use well-tested implementations.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that the design allows one cryptographic algorithm to be replaced with another in the next generation or version. Where possible, use wrappers to make the interfaces uniform. This will make it easier to upgrade to stronger algorithms.
Architecture and Design
Carefully manage and protect cryptographic keys (see CWE-320). If the keys can be guessed or stolen, then the strength of the cryptography itself is irrelevant.
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
V8.3.7 (opens in a new tab)
V2.9.3 (opens in a new tab)
V6.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Encryption Brute Forcing (opens in a new tab)
Creating a Rogue Certification Authority Certificate (opens in a new tab)
Signature Spoof (opens in a new tab)
Signature Spoofing by Improper Validation (opens in a new tab)
Cryptanalysis of Cellular Encryption (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Mar 2026, 18:46 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-327

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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