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IBM CVE-2025-14915

| EUVDEUVD-2025-209020 MEDIUM
Information Exposure (CWE-200)
2026-03-25 ibm GHSA-c39w-6qgm-5cp7
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V14 - Data Protection Data exposure prevention
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Collection, Discovery

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

This vulnerability presents a moderate-to-elevated real-world risk despite its 6.5 CVSS score due to several contextual factors: (1) CVSS vector shows low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction needed (UI:N), making it straightforward to exploit once a privileged account is compromised; (2) the PR:H (high privilege required) constraint significantly reduces the attack surface to insider threats and supply-chain compromises where administrative credentials are already breached; (3) the wide version range (17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.3) suggests potential widespread exposure across many enterprises running WebSphere Liberty; (4) no information about active exploitation in the wild or KEV status is evident from provided intelligence, suggesting this may be a proactive disclosure; (5) the availability of a vendor patch reduces exploitation window for patched systems. Organizations with extensive WebSphere deployments and strict administrative access controls face lower risk, while those with shared administrative accounts or weak credential management face elevated risk. This is a genuine priority for teams managing WebSphere Liberty environments, particularly in regulated industries handling sensitive data.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An insider with regular developer or operator privileges on the WebSphere Liberty console could authenticate and submit specially crafted requests to the administration interface that exploit the access control flaw, allowing them to assume administrative roles without proper authorization verification. Alternatively, an external attacker who has compromised a service account or low-privileged administrative credential through phishing or supply-chain compromise could use this privilege escalation to gain full administrative control of the application server, enabling them to modify deployed applications, access sensitive data, or pivot to other systems. The low attack complexity and absence of user interaction requirements mean this could be automated into post-compromise toolkits used by sophisticated threat actors.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 25, 2026

IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty versions 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.3 are vulnerable to privilege escalation due to improper access control (CWE-200: Information Exposure). A privileged user with existing authenticated access to the application server can exploit this vulnerability to gain additional unauthorized access to sensitive resources, potentially leading to information disclosure and integrity violations. While a CVSS score of 6.5 indicates moderate severity, the vulnerability requires high privileges to trigger (PR:H) and has no user interaction requirement, making it exploitable by insiders or compromised administrative accounts.

RemediationAI

Upgrade IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty to a patched version released by IBM following security advisory node/7267345 available at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7267345. Contact IBM support to determine the appropriate patched version for your current deployment. Until patching is possible, enforce the principle of least privilege for administrative accounts by restricting the number of users with high-level permissions, implement multi-factor authentication for administrative console access, isolate WebSphere administration ports (typically 9443) to trusted internal networks only, and audit all administrative account activities via centralized logging. Implement network segmentation to prevent lateral movement if an administrative account is compromised. Schedule patching during a controlled maintenance window to minimize business disruption, testing patches in a staging environment first.

Affected VersionsENISA

WebSphere Application Server - Liberty 17.0.0.3 ≤26.0.0.3

Affected Packages

euvd websphere_application_server_liberty no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability resides in IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty, a lightweight enterprise Java application server supporting Java EE and Jakarta EE standards. The affected versions span a wide range (17.0.0.3 to 26.0.0.3), indicating a regression or design flaw in the access control mechanisms that verify user permissions when accessing application server resources. CWE-200 (Information Exposure Through an Error Message) suggests the root cause involves improper validation or enforcement of role-based access control (RBAC), where authenticated users with one privilege level can escalate to higher privilege roles or access data outside their authorization scope. The network-accessible nature of WebSphere (AV:N) means this is remotely exploitable over standard HTTP/HTTPS ports used for administration consoles and remote management.

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch released
Mar 25, 2026 - 20:32 nvd
Patch available
CVE Published
Mar 25, 2026 - 20:12 nvd
MEDIUM 6.5

DescriptionCVE.org

IBM WebSphere Application Server - Liberty 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.3 IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty is affected by privilege escalation. A privileged user could gain additional access to the application server.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2025-14915 presents notable security risk, a information exposure vulnerability rated CVSS 6.5. Sensitive information could be exposed to unauthorized parties. A patch is available and should be applied during regular vulnerability management.

Business Impact: Moderate
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If patching is delayed: restrict endpoint access, redact sensitive data in logs.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 93% exploitable
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Related Vulnerabilities in IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty Issues

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