CVE-2025-1112 is a vulnerability identified in IBM OpenPages with Watson versions 8.3 and 9.0, categorized under CWE-282, which pertains to improper ownership management. This vulnerability allows an authenticated user with limited privileges to access sensitive information that should be restricted to privileged users only. The flaw arises from inadequate enforcement of ownership or access control policies within the application, enabling privilege escalation in terms of data confidentiality. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium severity), reflecting that the vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring privileges (PR:L) but no user interaction (UI:N). The impact is limited to confidentiality (C:L), with no effect on integrity or availability. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication, and no patches have been linked yet. IBM OpenPages with Watson is a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform widely used by enterprises to manage regulatory compliance and risk data. The vulnerability could allow unauthorized access to sensitive compliance or risk management data, potentially exposing confidential business information or regulatory data to unauthorized users within an organization.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could be significant, especially for those in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and energy, where IBM OpenPages with Watson is often deployed to manage compliance and risk data. Unauthorized access to sensitive compliance information could lead to breaches of GDPR and other data protection regulations, resulting in legal penalties and reputational damage. Additionally, exposure of internal risk assessments or audit data could weaken an organization's security posture and provide adversaries with intelligence to target further attacks. Since the vulnerability requires authentication with low privileges, insider threats or compromised user accounts could be leveraged to exploit this flaw. The lack of impact on integrity and availability limits the threat to data confidentiality, but the sensitivity of the data involved makes this a notable concern for European enterprises handling critical compliance data.

Organizations using IBM OpenPages with Watson versions 8.3 and 9.0 should implement strict access control reviews and minimize the number of users with authenticated access, especially those with any elevated privileges. Until an official patch is released, it is advisable to monitor user activities closely for unusual access patterns to sensitive data. Employing network segmentation and limiting access to the OpenPages application to trusted internal networks can reduce exposure. Additionally, enforcing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) can help prevent exploitation by compromised accounts. Regular audits of user permissions and roles within the application should be conducted to ensure the principle of least privilege is maintained. Organizations should also stay alert for IBM’s official patches or advisories and apply updates promptly once available.