CVE-2025-0165VulnerabilityPublished 30 Aug 2025Updated 2 Sep 2025

CVE-2025-0165: watsonx Orchestrate Cartridge for IBM Cloud Pak for Data · SQL Injection

Affects watsonx Orchestrate Cartridge for IBM Cloud Pak for DataSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.6 High.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.6High

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 34% 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:L/A:L

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

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: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Aug 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 2026-10-25.

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 watsonx Orchestrate Cartridge for IBM Cloud Pak for Data	Affected =4.8.4 =5.0.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately inventory their deployments of IBM watsonx Orchestrate Cartridge for IBM Cloud Pak for Data to identify affected versions (4.8.4, 4.8.5, 5.0.0 through 5.2.0). Until official patches are released, organizations should implement strict network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of the vulnerable component to trusted users and systems only. Employing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with SQL injection detection and prevention rules tailored to the specific queries used by the cartridge can help mitigate exploitation attempts. Monitoring database query logs for anomalous or unexpected SQL statements can provide early detection of exploitation attempts. Enforce the principle of least privilege rigorously, ensuring that users and services interacting with the cartridge have minimal necessary permissions. Additionally, organizations should prepare for rapid deployment of patches once IBM releases them and validate their effectiveness through penetration testing and vulnerability scanning. Incorporating runtime application self-protection (RASP) solutions may also help detect and block injection attempts in real-time. Finally, ensure that incident response teams are aware of this vulnerability and have plans to respond to potential exploitation scenarios.

Description

IBM watsonx Orchestrate Cartridge for IBM Cloud Pak for Data 4.8.4, 4.8.5, and 5.0.0 through 5.2.0 is vulnerable to SQL injection. A remote attacker could send specially crafted SQL statements, which could allow the attacker to view, add, modify, or delete information in the back-end database.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-0165 is significant, especially for those relying on IBM Cloud Pak for Data for critical data processing, analytics, and AI workloads. Compromise of the backend database could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive business intelligence, personal data protected under GDPR, or intellectual property, resulting in regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Data integrity could be compromised, affecting decision-making processes and operational continuity. Availability impacts could disrupt business operations relying on data orchestration and analytics pipelines. Given the high adoption of IBM Cloud Pak for Data in sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and government across Europe, the vulnerability poses a risk to critical infrastructure and sensitive data environments. The requirement for low privileges to exploit means insider threats or compromised accounts could be leveraged to launch attacks remotely, increasing the threat surface. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the potential for targeted attacks remains high.

CWE-89Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #2OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of an SQL command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended SQL command when it is sent to a downstream component. Without sufficient removal or quoting of SQL syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated SQL query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as SQL instead of ordinary user data.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Parameterization
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Environment Hardening
Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Query Parameterization (opens in a new tab)
Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
File Upload (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.3.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Command Line Execution through SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
Object Relational Mapping Injection (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection through SOAP Parameter Tampering (opens in a new tab)
Expanding Control over the Operating System from the Database (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7243596 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Sep 2025, 00:30 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-89

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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