CVE-2025-36146VulnerabilityPublished 18 Sep 2025Updated 19 Sep 2025

CVE-2025-36146: IBM watsonx.data · Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere

Affects IBM watsonx.dataSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 14% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
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: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
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 18 Sep 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 watsonx.data	Affected =2.2	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-36146, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Restrict and monitor access to IBM watsonx.data systems, ensuring that only necessary users have authentication credentials, and enforce the principle of least privilege to limit exposure. 2) Employ robust authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 3) Monitor system logs and audit access to detect unusual or unauthorized attempts to retrieve system information. 4) Engage with IBM support channels to obtain patches or updates as soon as they become available, and apply them promptly. 5) Consider network segmentation and firewall rules to limit access to the watsonx.data platform from untrusted networks or users. 6) Conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing focused on information disclosure vectors to identify and remediate similar issues proactively. 7) Educate users with access about the risks of information leakage and enforce strict operational security policies. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control hardening, proactive monitoring, and vendor engagement specific to the IBM watsonx.data environment.

Description

IBM Lakehouse (watsonx.data 2.2) could allow an authenticated user to obtain sensitive server component version information which could aid in further attacks against the system.

Impact

For European organizations using IBM watsonx.data 2.2, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily related to information disclosure. While it does not directly compromise data integrity or availability, the exposure of detailed server component versions can facilitate reconnaissance activities by threat actors. This can lead to more sophisticated attacks such as privilege escalation, lateral movement, or exploitation of other vulnerabilities in the environment. Organizations in sectors with high data sensitivity, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, could face increased risk if attackers use this information to plan targeted intrusions. Additionally, compliance with European data protection regulations like GDPR requires minimizing unnecessary exposure of system information, so this vulnerability could indirectly affect regulatory compliance posture. Given that the vulnerability requires authenticated access, the risk is somewhat mitigated by existing access controls; however, insider threats or compromised credentials could still exploit this flaw. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the need for vigilance and remediation.

CWE-497Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not properly prevent sensitive system-level information from being accessed by unauthorized actors who do not have the same level of access to the underlying system as the product does.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
Production applications should never use methods that generate internal details such as stack traces and error messages unless that information is directly committed to a log that is not viewable by the end user.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V14.3.2 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Web Application Fingerprinting (opens in a new tab)
System Location Discovery (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7245384 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Sep 2025, 01:02 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-497

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats