VulnerabilityPublished 28 Feb 2025Updated 26 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-0985: IBM MQ · Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable

Affects IBM MQSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 17% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
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: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
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 MQ	Affected =9.3 =9.4	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

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.

Description

IBM MQ 9.3 LTS, 9.3 CD, 9.4 LTS, and 9.4 CD stores potentially sensitive information in environment variables that could be obtained by a local user.

Impact

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.

CWE-526Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product uses an environment variable to store unencrypted sensitive information.
Architecture and Design
Encrypt information stored in the environment variable to protect it from being exposed to an unauthorized user. If encryption is not feasible or is considered too expensive for the business use of the application, then consider using a properly protected configuration file instead of an environment variable.
Implementation
If the environment variable is not necessary for the desired behavior, then remove it entirely, or clear it to an empty value.
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7184453 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Aug 2025, 20:19 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-526

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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