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IBM Business Automation Workflow EUVDEUVD-2026-53437

| CVE-2026-12730 LOW
Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch (CWE-297)
2026-08-05 ibm GHSA-6486-8hjq-q8vf
3.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: ibm
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain admin credentials via phishing or lateral movement
  2. Delivery
    Authenticate to IBM BAW administrative interface
  3. Exploit
    Configure or intercept outbound integration endpoint
  4. Execution
    Present mismatched TLS certificate from attacker-controlled server
  5. Persist
    BAW accepts connection without hostname verification
  6. Impact
    Intercept or manipulate workflow data in transit

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V12 - Secure Communication Certificate host validation
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the attacker to hold high-privilege (administrator-level) credentials on IBM Business Automation Workflow, as confirmed by PR:H in the CVSS:3.1 vector. The attacker must additionally be able to present a TLS server with a certificate that does not match the expected hostname - achievable by controlling an outbound integration endpoint configured within the product, or by performing DNS/routing manipulation for a target host. No user interaction is required (UI:N) once admin access is established. Exploitation is strictly limited by the prior administrative credential compromise requirement; unauthenticated or low-privilege users cannot directly exploit this flaw. Both containerized and traditional deployment modes are affected equally per the vendor description.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 base score of 3.8 (Low) accurately reflects the constrained threat model: the vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N requires high-privilege credentials (PR:H), meaning the attacker must already have compromised administrator-level access before this flaw can be leveraged. While the network attack vector (AV:N) and low complexity (AC:L) suggest no special network positioning is needed at the exploitation stage, the prerequisite credential compromise is a significant barrier. No EPSS score was provided in the input data, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV and no public proof-of-concept exists, confirming this is not currently under active exploitation. The limited confidentiality (C:L) and integrity (I:L) impacts, scoped to the unchanged system (S:U), further constrain blast radius. This should be treated as a medium-priority patch item in environments where admin credential theft is a realistic threat vector, but does not warrant emergency response absent evidence of active exploitation.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has obtained administrator credentials to IBM Business Automation Workflow - through phishing, credential stuffing, or lateral movement - configures or intercepts an outbound workflow integration endpoint to point to an attacker-controlled server presenting a TLS certificate with a mismatched hostname. Because the product does not validate certificate-to-hostname correspondence, the TLS handshake succeeds, and workflow data exchanged over that connection is exposed to interception or manipulation by the attacker-controlled endpoint. No public proof-of-concept code exists at time of analysis.

Monitor Track and reassess. Why: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 05, 2026

Improper TLS hostname verification in IBM Business Automation Workflow exposes high-privilege sessions to man-in-the-middle interception by failing to validate that server certificates match the target hostname. Affected deployments span both containerized (Kubernetes/OpenShift) and traditional on-premises models across multiple release trains from 24.0.0 through 26.0.0. No public exploit has been identified and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV; real-world risk is substantially bounded by the PR:H requirement - an attacker must already hold administrative credentials before exploitation is feasible.

RemediationAI

Apply the vendor-supplied patch documented in the IBM Security Bulletin at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7282596. The bulletin covers all affected release trains (24.0.0 IF009+, 24.0.1 IF007+, 25.0.0 IF005+, and 26.0.0); exact patched interim fix build numbers must be retrieved directly from the IBM advisory as they were not independently confirmed in the available input data - do not infer fix levels from the affected version boundaries alone. For environments where immediate patching is not feasible, restrict IBM Business Automation Workflow administrative access to dedicated management network segments using firewall rules to reduce the attack surface for credential-based exploitation. Enforce multi-factor authentication on all administrator accounts to raise the cost of the prerequisite credential compromise. As an additional detective control, deploy outbound TLS inspection on enterprise proxies to surface certificate-hostname mismatch events that may indicate exploitation attempts. Note that proxy inspection introduces a trusted CA dependency and may require certificate pinning review.

Affected VersionsENISA

Business Automation Workflow containers and traditional 24.0.1 ≤24.0.1 Interim Fix 007
Business Automation Workflow containers and traditional 25.0.0 ≤25.0.0 Interim Fix 005
Business Automation Workflow containers and traditional 26.0.0
Business Automation Workflow containers and traditional 24.0.0 ≤24.0.0 Interim Fix 009

Affected Packages

euvd business_automation_workflow_containers_and_traditional 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

CWE-297 (Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch) describes a failure in TLS/SSL certificate verification where software accepts a presented certificate without checking that the certificate's Common Name or Subject Alternative Names match the target hostname. This breaks the chain of trust that TLS provides, enabling an adversary who controls DNS resolution, network routing, or an outbound integration endpoint to present a certificate issued for a different domain and still have the connection accepted silently. IBM Business Automation Workflow is an enterprise business process management platform that makes outbound TLS connections as part of workflow integrations and service orchestration. Both deployment topologies - containerized (via Kubernetes/OpenShift) and traditional on-premises - are affected, as captured by the CPE identifier cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow_containers_and_traditional. The flaw resides in the product's TLS client validation logic rather than a third-party library per available data.

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Severity by source

Vendor (ibm) PRIMARY 3.8 LOW
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
vuln.today AI 3.8 LOW

Administrator credentials required to configure integrations exploiting the hostname mismatch; limited data exposure (C:L/I:L) with no availability impact and unchanged scope.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (ibm).

CVSS VectorVendor: ibm

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

DescriptionCVE.org

IBM Business Automation Workflow containers and traditional 26.0.0, 25.0.0 through 25.0.0 Interim Fix 005, 24.0.1 through 24.0.1 Interim Fix 007, and 24.0.0 through 24.0.0 Interim Fix 009 IBM Business Automation Workflow fails to properly verify that the hostname matches the server certificate potentially allowing connections to an attacker-controlled server.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 94% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
enterprise BPM platform, broadly deployed in large organizations
Data Quality
5 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 LOW
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9)
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

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Low
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

19
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +19
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

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

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