VulnerabilityPublished 28 Feb 2025Updated 17 Oct 2025

CVE-2024-56340: IBM Cognos Analytics · Relative Path Traversal

Affects IBM Cognos AnalyticsSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 57% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
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: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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 Feb 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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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 Cognos Analytics	Affected =11.2.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately review access controls to IBM Cognos Analytics, ensuring that only trusted users have privileges that allow interaction with the 'deficon' parameter. Network segmentation and application-layer firewalls can help restrict access to the vulnerable interface. Until IBM releases official patches, organizations can implement input validation and sanitization at the web application firewall (WAF) or reverse proxy level to block path traversal payloads targeting the 'deficon' parameter. Monitoring and logging access to this parameter should be enhanced to detect suspicious activity indicative of exploitation attempts. Regular audits of user privileges and session management can reduce the risk from compromised accounts. Organizations should subscribe to IBM security advisories to promptly apply patches once available. Additionally, conducting internal penetration testing focused on path traversal vulnerabilities can help identify and remediate similar issues proactively. Finally, ensuring that sensitive files on the server are protected with strict filesystem permissions can limit the impact if exploitation occurs.

Description

IBM Cognos Analytics 11.2.0 through 11.2.4 FP5 is vulnerable to local file inclusion vulnerability, allowing an attacker to access sensitive files by inserting path traversal payloads inside the deficon parameter.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact is unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored on IBM Cognos Analytics servers. This could include business intelligence data, internal reports, or configuration files containing credentials or system details. Such data leakage can lead to competitive disadvantage, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations), and increased risk of subsequent attacks leveraging exposed information. Organizations in sectors like finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure that rely heavily on IBM Cognos Analytics for data analytics and reporting are particularly vulnerable. The requirement for low-level privileges reduces the risk from external attackers but raises concerns about insider threats or compromised user accounts. The lack of impact on integrity and availability means the system's operation remains intact, but confidentiality breaches alone can have severe consequences, including reputational damage and legal penalties under European data protection laws. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation before widespread exploitation occurs.

CWE-23Relative Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize sequences such as ".." that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
Operation · Firewall
Use an application firewall that can detect attacks against this weakness. It can be beneficial in cases in which the code cannot be fixed (because it is controlled by a third party), as an emergency prevention measure while more comprehensive software assurance measures are applied, or to provide defense in depth.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Relative Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Oct 2025, 15:47 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-23

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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