CVE-2025-27369 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting IBM OpenPages with Watson versions 8.3 and 9.0. The vulnerability arises from insufficient security controls on certain REST endpoints used for the administration of the OpenPages platform. Specifically, an authenticated user with legitimate access but without administrative privileges can exploit these endpoints to disclose sensitive system information. This information includes details about system configuration and internal state data that are intended to be accessible only by system administrators. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-497, which refers to the exposure of sensitive system information to an unauthorized control sphere. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3, reflecting a network attack vector with low complexity, requiring privileges but no user interaction, and resulting in limited confidentiality impact without affecting integrity or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability could potentially aid attackers in reconnaissance activities, enabling them to gather intelligence about the system’s internal setup that could be leveraged in subsequent attacks or privilege escalation attempts.

For European organizations using IBM OpenPages with Watson 8.3 or 9.0, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily related to confidentiality. Unauthorized disclosure of system configuration and internal state information can facilitate targeted attacks by providing attackers with insights into system architecture, security controls, and potential weaknesses. This could lead to more effective exploitation of other vulnerabilities or unauthorized access attempts. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise data integrity or availability, the exposure of sensitive administrative information could undermine trust in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) processes managed through OpenPages. Organizations in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, which often rely on OpenPages for risk management, may face increased compliance risks and potential reputational damage if such information is leaked or misused.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Restrict access to the affected REST endpoints strictly to authorized administrators by enforcing role-based access controls (RBAC) and reviewing user permissions regularly to ensure no unnecessary privileges are granted. 2) Monitor and audit access logs for unusual or unauthorized attempts to query administrative endpoints, enabling early detection of potential exploitation attempts. 3) Apply network segmentation and firewall rules to limit exposure of the OpenPages administrative interfaces to trusted internal networks only. 4) Engage with IBM support to obtain any forthcoming patches or security updates addressing this vulnerability and prioritize their deployment. 5) Consider implementing additional application-layer security controls such as Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious REST API calls. 6) Conduct internal security assessments and penetration testing focused on OpenPages to identify and remediate any related security gaps.