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CVE-2025-12985VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2025-12985: IBM Licensing Operator · Incorrect Permissions

Affects IBM Licensing OperatorSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.4 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
8.4High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 20 Jan 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
IBMIBM Licensing OperatorAffected
  • =9.0.0
  • =9.0.1
  • =9.1.0
  • =9.2.0
Fixed in–

CPE configurations (4)

  • cpe:2.3:a:ibm:license_metric_tool:9.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:ibm:license_metric_tool:9.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:ibm:license_metric_tool:9.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:ibm:license_metric_tool:9.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

AI-suggested

Until IBM releases an official patch, European organizations should implement the following mitigations: 1) Restrict access to containers running IBM Licensing Operator to trusted administrators only, enforcing strict RBAC policies. 2) Employ container runtime security tools to monitor and alert on privilege escalation attempts and anomalous file permission changes. 3) Use container image scanning to detect and block vulnerable IBM Licensing Operator versions from deployment. 4) Run containers with the least privilege principle, avoiding running containers as root where possible or using user namespaces to isolate privileges. 5) Regularly audit container file permissions and configurations to identify and remediate insecure settings. 6) Segment container workloads to limit lateral movement if a container is compromised. 7) Prepare for rapid patch deployment once IBM releases fixes by maintaining an up-to-date inventory of affected versions in use. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on container-specific controls and operational practices relevant to this vulnerability.

Description

IBM Licensing Operator incorrectly assigns privileges to security critical files which could allow a local root escalation inside a container running the IBM Licensing Operator image.

References

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