CVE-2025-13333VulnerabilityPublished 17 Feb 2026

CVE-2025-13333: IBM WebSphere Application Server · Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard

Affects IBM WebSphere Application ServerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.4 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.4Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 28% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: High
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: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
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 17 Feb 2026
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 2026-10-26.

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 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
IBMWebSphere Application Server	Affected >=9.0 <=9.0.5.27 >=8.5 <=8.5.5.29	Fixed in–

CPE configurations (4)

cpe:2.3:a:ibm:websphere_application_server:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ibm:websphere_application_server:9.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ibm:websphere_application_server:8.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ibm:websphere_application_server:8.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

AI-suggested

Organizations should implement the following specific mitigation measures: 1) Monitor and restrict administrative access to IBM WebSphere Application Server to trusted personnel only, enforcing strict role-based access controls and multi-factor authentication. 2) Conduct thorough audits of administrative activities and security settings to detect any anomalous behavior or configuration changes. 3) Apply any IBM-provided patches or updates as soon as they become available; in the absence of patches, consider temporary compensating controls such as network segmentation and limiting administrative access to secure management networks. 4) Harden the underlying operating system and network infrastructure to reduce the risk of privilege escalation that could enable exploitation. 5) Educate administrators on secure configuration practices and the risks associated with elevated privileges. 6) Use WebSphere security features such as SSL/TLS encryption for administrative interfaces to protect data in transit. 7) Regularly review and update incident response plans to quickly address potential exploitation scenarios related to administrative security weaknesses.

Description

IBM WebSphere Application Server 9.0, and 8.5 could provide weaker than expected security during system administration of security settings.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-13333 is the potential exposure of sensitive administrative information due to weakened security checks during system administration. This could lead to unauthorized disclosure of configuration details, credentials, or other confidential data, increasing the risk of further attacks or insider threats. Although the vulnerability does not directly affect data integrity or system availability, the confidentiality breach could facilitate privilege escalation or lateral movement within an organization’s network. Enterprises relying on IBM WebSphere Application Server for critical business applications may face increased risk of targeted attacks, especially if administrative privileges are compromised. The requirement for high privileges limits the scope of exploitation but does not eliminate risk, particularly in environments with multiple administrators or insufficient access controls. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not preclude future exploitation once details become widely known.

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7260217 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

CPE configurations (4)

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 25 Feb 2026, 00:09 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-358

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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