CVE-2025-33013VulnerabilityPublished 24 Jul 2025Updated 18 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-33013: IBM MQ Operator · Heap Inspection

Affects IBM MQ OperatorSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% 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:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
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: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
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 24 Jul 2025
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 2026-10-25.

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
IBM MQ Operator	Affected =2.0.0 <=2.0.29 =3.0.0 =3.0.1 >=3.1.0 <=3.1.3 =3.3.0 =3.4.0 =3.4.1 =3.5.0 =3.5.1 =3.6.0 >=3.2.0 <=3.2.13	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should implement several specific mitigation strategies beyond generic patching advice: 1) Restrict local access to container hosts running IBM MQ Operator by enforcing strict access controls and monitoring local user activities. 2) Employ container security best practices such as running containers with the least privilege, using container runtime security tools to detect anomalous behavior, and isolating sensitive workloads in dedicated namespaces or clusters. 3) Regularly audit and sanitize memory handling configurations where possible, and monitor for any unusual memory access patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement opportunities if local access is compromised. 5) Stay updated with IBM security advisories for patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and plan timely deployment once available. 6) Use runtime secrets management solutions to minimize sensitive data exposure in memory. 7) Conduct internal penetration testing and vulnerability assessments focusing on containerized environments to identify potential exploitation paths. 8) Enhance logging and alerting mechanisms for container operations to detect suspicious activities related to heap memory inspection attempts.

Description

IBM MQ Operator LTS 2.0.0 through 2.0.29, MQ Operator CD 3.0.0, 3.0.1, 3.1.0 through 3.1.3, 3.3.0, 3.4.0, 3.4.1, 3.5.0, 3.5.1, 3.6.0, and MQ Operator SC2 3.2.0 through 3.2.13 Container could disclose sensitive information to a local user due to improper clearing of heap memory before release.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-33013 could be significant in environments that utilize IBM MQ Operator for managing message queuing in containerized applications, especially in sectors such as finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, and government services where IBM MQ is commonly deployed. The exposure of sensitive information due to improper heap clearing could lead to unauthorized disclosure of confidential data, potentially violating GDPR and other data protection regulations. This could result in regulatory fines, reputational damage, and operational disruptions. Since the vulnerability requires local access, the risk is heightened in shared or multi-tenant environments, such as cloud or hybrid cloud deployments common in Europe. Organizations with strict data isolation requirements or those operating in highly regulated industries may face increased compliance risks. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged as a stepping stone for lateral movement within internal networks if an attacker gains initial local access, thereby increasing the overall threat landscape. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future exploitation, especially as threat actors often target container orchestration and messaging infrastructure.

CWE-244Improper Clearing of Heap Memory Before Release ('Heap Inspection') (opens in a new tab)
Variant weakness
Using realloc() to resize buffers that store sensitive information can leave the sensitive information exposed to attack, because it is not removed from memory.
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.2 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.6 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7240431 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 19 Aug 2025, 01:15 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-244

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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