VulnerabilityPublished 10 Mar 2026

CVE-2025-36227: IBM Aspera Faspex 5 · Improper Neutralization of HTTP Headers for Scripting Syntax

Affects IBM Aspera Faspex 5Source CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.4 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.4Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on 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 10 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 Oct 2026.

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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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
IBMAspera Faspex 5	Affected >=5.0.0 <=5.0.14.3	Fixed in–

CPE configurations (2)

cpe:2.3:a:ibm:aspera_faspex_5:5.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ibm:aspera_faspex_5:5.0.14.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

AI-suggested

Apply patches or updates from IBM as soon as they become available for Aspera Faspex 5 to address this vulnerability directly.
Implement strict input validation and sanitization on HTTP headers, especially the HOST header, at the web server or application firewall level to block malicious header content.
Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block HTTP header injection attempts and anomalous HOST header values.
Monitor HTTP traffic logs for unusual or malformed HOST headers and signs of cache poisoning or session hijacking attempts.
Educate users about phishing and social engineering risks that could lead to user interaction with malicious content.
Restrict privileges for users interacting with the system to the minimum necessary to reduce exploitation likelihood.
Consider isolating or segmenting the Aspera Faspex service within the network to limit exposure.
Review and harden session management mechanisms to detect and prevent session hijacking.
If patching is delayed, consider disabling or limiting external access to vulnerable versions until remediation is possible.

Description

IBM Aspera Faspex 5 5.0.0 through 5.0.14.3 is vulnerable to HTTP header injection, caused by improper validation of input by the HOST headers. This could allow an attacker to conduct various attacks against the vulnerable system, including cross-site scripting, cache poisoning or session hijacking.

Impact

The vulnerability can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information through session hijacking and cross-site scripting attacks, compromising user confidentiality and integrity of data. Cache poisoning can degrade trust in the application by serving malicious or outdated content to users. Organizations using IBM Aspera Faspex 5 for secure file transfers may face risks of data leakage, unauthorized access, and reputational damage. Since the vulnerability requires user interaction and some privilege level, the risk is somewhat mitigated but still significant in environments with many users or where phishing/social engineering is feasible. The scope change means that exploitation can affect multiple users or components beyond the initial vulnerable module, increasing potential impact. Although availability is not affected, the confidentiality and integrity breaches can disrupt business operations, compliance posture, and user trust.

CWE-644Improper Neutralization of HTTP Headers for Scripting Syntax (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes web scripting syntax in HTTP headers that can be used by web browser components that can process raw headers, such as Flash.
Architecture and Design
Carefully control data that is being placed both in HTTP response headers and in the HTTP response body to ensure that no scripting syntax is present, taking various encodings into account.
Architecture and Design
Disable script execution functionality in the clients' browser.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Content Security Policy (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention in Java (opens in a new tab)
Query Parameterization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V14.4.6 (opens in a new tab)
V14.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7262816 (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

CPE configurations (2)

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Mar 2026, 20:31 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-644

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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