CVE-2025-36326VulnerabilityPublished 26 Sep 2025

CVE-2025-36326: IBM Cognos Controller · Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key

Affects IBM Cognos ControllerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.7 Low.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.7Low

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 13% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: None
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: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
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: 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 26 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 2026-10-26.

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 Cognos Controller	Affected =11.0.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should: 1) Monitor IBM's official channels for patches or updates addressing CVE-2025-36326 and apply them promptly once available. 2) In the interim, restrict network access to IBM Cognos Controller interfaces to trusted internal networks and enforce strong network segmentation to limit exposure. 3) Implement additional session management controls such as enforcing HTTPS/TLS for all communications to protect session cookies in transit. 4) Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block anomalous session cookie usage or replay attempts. 5) Conduct regular security audits and code reviews to identify any other hard-coded secrets or cryptographic weaknesses. 6) Educate administrators and users about the risks of session hijacking and enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) where possible to reduce the impact of compromised sessions. 7) Review and enhance logging and monitoring to detect suspicious session activity promptly. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on compensating controls and proactive detection until an official patch is released.

Description

IBM Cognos Controller 11.0.0 through 11.0.1, and IBM Controller 11.1.0 through 11.1.1 could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information due to the use of hardcoded cryptographic keys for signing session cookies.

Impact

For European organizations using IBM Cognos Controller, this vulnerability poses a risk to the confidentiality of session data. Attackers exploiting this flaw could impersonate legitimate users or access sensitive financial and operational data managed within the Cognos Controller environment. While the vulnerability does not directly affect system integrity or availability, unauthorized access to session information can lead to data leakage, compliance violations (e.g., GDPR), and erosion of trust in financial reporting processes. Given the critical nature of financial data in European enterprises, especially in regulated sectors such as banking, insurance, and public administration, even low-severity vulnerabilities can have outsized reputational and regulatory consequences. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the static nature of the cryptographic key means that once discovered, the vulnerability could be exploited repeatedly. Organizations relying on IBM Cognos Controller should consider this a potential vector for insider threats or external attackers who gain network access. The impact is heightened in environments where session cookies are transmitted over insecure channels or where additional compensating controls are absent.

CWE-321Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A04:2025: Cryptographic Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product uses a hard-coded, unchangeable cryptographic key.
Architecture and Design
Prevention schemes mirror that of hard-coded password storage.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Transport Layer Protection (opens in a new tab)
User Privacy Protection (opens in a new tab)
Password Storage (opens in a new tab)
Cryptographic Storage (opens in a new tab)
HSTS (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V2.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V2.6.2 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.5 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

ibm.com/support/pages/node/7246015 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Sep 2025, 00:14 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-321

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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