CVE-2025-1333 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting IBM MQ Operator versions ranging from 2.0.0 LTS through various 3.x releases (including 3.0.0, 3.0.1, 3.1.0 to 3.1.3, 3.4.0, 3.5.0, 3.5.1 CD, and 3.2.0 SC2). The vulnerability arises when IBM MQ Container is deployed with the IBM MQ Operator and configured alongside Cloud Pak for Integration Keycloak. Specifically, the issue is classified under CWE-214, which involves the invocation of processes using visible sensitive information. In this context, the MQ Operator may inadvertently expose sensitive information to users who have privileged access. The vulnerability does not allow for remote exploitation without authentication; it requires a privileged user to be present on the system (local access vector). The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.0, indicating a medium severity level, with the vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N. This means the attack requires low complexity, high privileges, no user interaction, and impacts confidentiality with a scope change (the vulnerability affects resources beyond the initially vulnerable component). The vulnerability does not impact integrity or availability but can lead to significant confidentiality breaches by exposing sensitive data during process invocation, potentially including credentials or tokens used by the MQ Operator. No known exploits are reported in the wild as of the publication date (May 1, 2025), and no patches or fixes have been linked yet. The vulnerability is particularly relevant in environments where IBM MQ Operator is used in containerized deployments integrated with IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, which is common in enterprise middleware and messaging infrastructures.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to confidentiality within critical messaging infrastructure. IBM MQ is widely used in enterprise environments for reliable message queuing and integration, often handling sensitive business data and inter-application communication. Exposure of sensitive information to privileged users could lead to insider threats or lateral movement within networks, especially in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government. Since the vulnerability requires privileged access, the risk is heightened in environments with insufficient privilege separation or weak internal access controls. The scope change in the vulnerability indicates that sensitive information could be exposed beyond the immediate MQ Operator container, potentially affecting other integrated systems. This could undermine data protection compliance obligations under GDPR and other European data privacy regulations. Additionally, organizations relying on IBM Cloud Pak for Integration with Keycloak for identity and access management may face compounded risks if sensitive authentication tokens or credentials are leaked. Although no active exploits are known, the medium severity and potential for confidentiality breaches necessitate proactive mitigation to prevent insider misuse or accidental data exposure.

1. Restrict privileged access strictly: Limit the number of users with high privileges on systems running IBM MQ Operator and enforce strong role-based access controls (RBAC). 2. Monitor and audit privileged user activities closely, especially those interacting with MQ Operator containers and Cloud Pak for Integration components. 3. Apply network segmentation to isolate MQ Operator containers from less trusted environments and reduce the attack surface for lateral movement. 4. Use container security best practices, including minimizing container privileges and employing runtime security tools to detect anomalous process invocations. 5. Regularly review and harden Keycloak configurations to ensure tokens and credentials are not unnecessarily exposed or logged. 6. Stay alert for IBM patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and plan timely deployment once available. 7. Implement strict logging and alerting on any access to sensitive MQ Operator process invocation parameters or environment variables that might contain sensitive information. 8. Conduct internal penetration testing and vulnerability assessments focusing on privilege escalation and information disclosure vectors within MQ Operator deployments. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on privilege management, container security hygiene, and integration-specific configurations that are critical in mitigating CWE-214 related information exposure in this context.