CVE-2025-1112 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in IBM OpenPages with Watson versions 8.3 and 9.0. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-282, which relates to improper ownership management. Specifically, this flaw allows an authenticated user with limited privileges to access sensitive information that should be restricted to privileged users only. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited remotely over the network (AV:N). The attack complexity is low (AC:L), meaning exploitation does not require special conditions. However, the attacker must have some level of privileges (PR:L), indicating that only authenticated users with limited rights can exploit this issue. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (C:L) but does not affect integrity or availability. The scope is unchanged (S:U), meaning the vulnerability affects only the vulnerable component without impacting other components or systems. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been explicitly linked yet. The root cause is improper management of ownership or access control within the application, leading to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data. IBM OpenPages with Watson is a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform widely used by enterprises to manage regulatory requirements and risk management processes.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive governance and compliance data. Since IBM OpenPages is often used by financial institutions, healthcare providers, and large enterprises to manage critical regulatory data, unauthorized access could lead to exposure of confidential risk assessments, compliance reports, or internal audit information. This could result in regulatory non-compliance, reputational damage, and potential legal consequences under GDPR and other data protection laws. Although the vulnerability does not allow modification or disruption of services, the leakage of sensitive information could aid attackers in further targeted attacks or insider threats. The requirement for authenticated access limits the attack surface to internal or compromised users, but insider threats or credential theft scenarios remain a concern. Given the strategic importance of compliance data in Europe, especially in heavily regulated sectors, the impact could be significant if exploited.

Organizations should prioritize applying any official patches or updates from IBM as soon as they become available. In the absence of patches, administrators should review and tighten access controls and user privilege assignments within IBM OpenPages, ensuring the principle of least privilege is strictly enforced. Conduct thorough audits of user roles and permissions to detect any over-privileged accounts. Implement strong authentication mechanisms, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Monitor access logs for unusual or unauthorized access patterns to sensitive data. Additionally, consider network segmentation to limit access to the OpenPages environment only to trusted internal users and systems. Regularly train staff on security best practices and insider threat awareness. Finally, maintain an incident response plan tailored to potential data disclosure incidents involving compliance systems.