EUVD-2026-104465
GHSA-2ph8-cjp5-hwrv
Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessConnect to TLS-enabled MQ channel
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ExploitPresent certificate with malformed distinguished name
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ExecutionOverflow stack buffer in DN parser
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ImpactExecute arbitrary code on queue manager
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Stack buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the targeted IBM MQ queue manager to have a TLS-secured channel active, since the overflow occurs specifically while processing a TLS certificate's distinguished name during channel connection establishment; the attacker must be able to reach that channel over the network and present a certificate with a malformed DN. No valid credentials or user interaction are needed (PR:N/UI:N), meaning parsing occurs before authentication completes. Realistic exploitation is limited by CVSS AC:H - reliably converting the stack overflow into code execution is non-trivial - and by the requirement that TLS be enabled/configured on the channel rather than a plaintext-only listener; the confirmed affected footprint is restricted to the MQ Operator and MQ Advanced container images. |
| Impact | This is a credible but not emergency-priority issue. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N) describes a network-reachable, pre-authentication flaw with full C:H/I:H/A:H impact, consistent with the RCE claim and a base score of 8.1. The key tempering signal is AC:H: reliably exploiting a stack buffer overflow (CWE-121) in TLS certificate DN parsing typically requires defeating modern memory protections and deterministically hitting the malformed-DN code path, which is non-trivial. There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit in the input, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. No SSVC decision data was supplied. The signals are internally consistent (high impact, low known exploitation) rather than conflicting: treat this as a high-severity patch-soon item, not a drop-everything KEV-grade threat. Caveat: PR:N assumes the overflow triggers while parsing the attacker-supplied certificate before authentication completes; if the affected channel requires TLS to be explicitly enabled/configured, real-world exposure is narrower than the raw score implies - verify configuration dependency with IBM. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote, unauthenticated attacker initiates an MQ channel connection to a TLS-enabled queue manager (running via the MQ Operator or MQ Advanced container images) and presents a TLS certificate whose distinguished name is crafted to overflow a fixed-size stack buffer during DN processing. Successful exploitation corrupts the stack and can lead to arbitrary code execution in the queue manager process. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and the CVSS AC:H rating indicates exploitation is not trivially reliable. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 19, 2026
Unauthenticated remote code execution is possible against IBM MQ deployments exposed through the MQ Operator and MQ Advanced container images when a TLS-secured channel parses a client certificate whose distinguished name is malformed, overflowing a fixed-size stack buffer during connection establishment. The flaw (CWE-121) sits in the pre-authentication TLS handshake path, so no credentials or user interaction are required (CVSS 8.1, AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N), though the high attack-complexity rating reflects how difficult it is to turn the stack corruption into reliable code execution and the precondition that the targeted queue manager must actually have TLS enabled on a reachable channel. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and the issue is not in CISA KEV, so this is a credible but not emergency-priority issue: patch on a normal cycle while reducing exposure of TLS listeners.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: available per IBM advisory (https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7292667); the input data does not expose an exact fixed version, so confirm the corrected IBM MQ Operator release and MQ Advanced container image tag in the bulletin and roll the operator and image tags forward together, since mismatched operator/image versions can leave an affected queue manager running. Until patched, the highest-value control is reducing reachability of TLS listeners: apply Kubernetes NetworkPolicies or host firewalls so only known client networks can reach channel ports, with the trade-off that legitimate remote producers and consumers must be re-homed onto permitted address ranges. Where the channel does not require external clients, disable TLS on that listener or shut it down entirely - effective, but it removes encryption for that path and should be paired with an encrypted tunnel if confidentiality is required. Restricting the channel's trust store to a tightly scoped internal CA limits who can even present a certificate for parsing, at the cost of certificate distribution overhead and possible breakage of partner integrations. Retaining ASLR and stack-protector hardening on the container hosts and monitoring queue manager logs for repeated TLS handshake failures with abnormal distinguished names gives detection coverage, but neither substitutes for the vendor fix.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 2 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
IBM MQ is message-oriented middleware whose channel architecture (including SVRCONN server-connection channels) can be hardened with TLS, during which the queue manager parses the X.509 client certificate and extracts distinguished-name attributes (CN, O, OU, and similar) for authorization and channel-exit processing. CWE-121, stack-based buffer overflow, indicates that at least one DN attribute is copied into a fixed-length stack buffer without adequate length validation, so an oversized or specially crafted DN field smashes stack memory before the handshake completes and before any user authentication step. Because the parsing happens during channel connection establishment, an attacker only needs network reachability to the TLS listener plus the ability to present a certificate they control - no prior trust relationship or valid MQ credentials are required, which is why the vector carries PR:N/UI:N. The AC:H component is consistent with modern stack protections (ASLR, stack canaries, non-executable stack) that make controlled hijacking of execution flow from a string-parsing overflow unreliable. The affected footprint identified in the CPE data is the containerized delivery chain - the IBM MQ Operator for Kubernetes and the MQ Advanced container images - rather than classic on-premises MQ installations.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
The malformed certificate is parsed during channel setup before authentication, so PR:N; memory-corruption reliability plus the required TLS channel justify AC:H; RCE gives C/I/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (ibm).
CVSS VectorVendor: ibm
DescriptionCVE.org
IBM MQ could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code due to a stack buffer overflow when processing TLS certificates with malformed distinguished names during channel connection establishment.
Executive ViewAI
IBM MQ deployments using the MQ Operator or MQ Advanced container images face a high-severity, unauthenticated remote code execution risk when a reachable TLS-secured channel processes a malformed client certificate distinguished name. Exploitation is difficult and requires TLS to be enabled on an exposed channel, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis; however, successful compromise could affect queue manager confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Leadership should prioritize inventory and network exposure reduction while applying the available vendor fix on a normal patch cycle.
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Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
A stack-based buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a buffer located on the stack than it was allocated to hold.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
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