CVE-2025-1494 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in IBM Cognos Command Center versions 10.2.4.1 and 10.2.5. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-1021, which pertains to improper restriction of rendered UI layers or frames. Specifically, this flaw allows a remote attacker to hijack the clicking actions of a victim by exploiting the way the application handles UI layers or frames. An attacker can craft a malicious website and persuade a user of the vulnerable IBM Cognos Command Center to visit it. Once the victim interacts with the malicious site, the attacker can intercept and redirect click actions, potentially leading to further attacks such as unauthorized actions within the Cognos environment or other linked systems. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.1, indicating a medium severity level. The vector string (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N) reveals that the attack can be performed remotely over the network without privileges and requires user interaction (clicking). The scope is changed, meaning the vulnerability affects components beyond the initially vulnerable component, and it impacts confidentiality and integrity with no effect on availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches or fixes have been linked yet. This vulnerability is significant because IBM Cognos Command Center is a business intelligence and performance management tool widely used for monitoring and managing enterprise data and operations, making it a valuable target for attackers aiming to manipulate business-critical processes or exfiltrate sensitive information.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-1494 could be substantial, especially for enterprises relying on IBM Cognos Command Center for operational monitoring and decision-making. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to hijack user clicks, potentially enabling unauthorized actions such as data manipulation, triggering erroneous alerts, or gaining indirect access to sensitive business intelligence data. This could lead to compromised data integrity, leakage of confidential business information, and disruption of monitoring workflows. Given the medium severity and the requirement for user interaction, the risk is elevated in environments where users might be targeted via phishing or social engineering campaigns. The confidentiality and integrity impacts could affect compliance with European data protection regulations such as GDPR if sensitive personal or business data is exposed or altered. Additionally, the scope change indicates that the vulnerability might affect multiple components or systems interconnected with Cognos, increasing the potential attack surface and impact.

To mitigate this vulnerability effectively, European organizations should: 1) Monitor IBM's official security advisories closely for patches or updates addressing CVE-2025-1494 and apply them promptly once available. 2) Implement strict web browsing policies for users with access to IBM Cognos Command Center, including restricting access to untrusted or unknown websites to reduce the risk of clickjacking attacks. 3) Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and X-Frame-Options on internal web applications to prevent framing by malicious sites. 4) Conduct user awareness training focused on recognizing phishing and social engineering attempts that could lead to visiting malicious sites. 5) Use network-level protections such as web filtering and intrusion detection systems to block access to known malicious domains. 6) Review and harden the configuration of IBM Cognos Command Center, limiting user permissions to the minimum necessary to reduce the impact of any hijacked clicks. 7) Consider implementing multi-factor authentication and session management controls to detect and prevent unauthorized actions resulting from click hijacking. These measures, combined with timely patching, will reduce the attack surface and limit the potential damage from exploitation.