CVE-2025-0985 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting IBM MQ versions 9.3 LTS, 9.3 CD, 9.4 LTS, and 9.4 CD. The vulnerability arises from the cleartext storage of sensitive information within environment variables. Environment variables are often accessible to local users or processes running on the same system. In this case, sensitive data such as credentials or configuration secrets used by IBM MQ are stored in these environment variables without encryption or adequate protection. This exposure allows a local attacker with limited privileges (low privileges) to read these environment variables and extract confidential information. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and has a low attack complexity, but it does require local access and some privileges on the affected system. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.5 (medium), reflecting the high confidentiality impact but no impact on integrity or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches are linked yet, indicating that remediation may still be pending or in development. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-526, which relates to cleartext storage of sensitive information, a common security weakness that can lead to credential theft or unauthorized access if exploited. IBM MQ is a widely used enterprise messaging middleware that facilitates communication between applications and systems, often in critical business environments. Exposure of sensitive information in IBM MQ environment variables could lead to unauthorized access to messaging infrastructure or downstream systems that rely on MQ for secure communication.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for those relying on IBM MQ for critical messaging and integration services in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and government. The exposure of sensitive information could lead to credential compromise, allowing attackers to impersonate legitimate services or users, intercept or manipulate messages, or gain further foothold within the network. This could result in data breaches, disruption of business processes, or compliance violations under regulations like GDPR due to unauthorized access to personal or sensitive data. Since the vulnerability requires local access, the risk is higher in environments where multiple users or processes share the same host or where attackers can gain initial access through other means. The lack of impact on integrity and availability reduces the risk of direct service disruption but does not eliminate the threat of lateral movement or espionage. European organizations with complex hybrid IT environments or those using IBM MQ in multi-tenant or shared infrastructure scenarios should be particularly vigilant.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should take the following specific actions: 1) Restrict local access to systems running IBM MQ to trusted administrators only, minimizing the risk of unauthorized users reading environment variables. 2) Implement strict file system and process permissions to limit which users and processes can view environment variables or related configuration files. 3) Monitor and audit access to IBM MQ hosts for unusual local user activity that could indicate attempts to extract environment variables. 4) Where possible, configure IBM MQ to avoid storing sensitive information in environment variables; instead, use secure credential stores or encrypted configuration mechanisms supported by IBM MQ. 5) Apply the latest IBM MQ updates and patches as soon as they become available to address this vulnerability. 6) Employ host-based security controls such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to detect suspicious local access patterns. 7) Educate system administrators about the risks of environment variable exposure and enforce secure operational practices. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on local access control, secure configuration, and proactive monitoring tailored to the nature of this vulnerability.