Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessReach exposed Gateway web interface
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DeliverySend unauthenticated requests to file/mailbox endpoints
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ExploitAccess control check bypassed
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ExecutionRetrieve sensitive transferred files and metadata
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ImpactExfiltrate data undetected
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Access control enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | The prerequisite is that the vulnerable access-control path is reachable from the attacker's position - in practice, a Sterling File Gateway deployment whose web/partner interface is exposed beyond a trusted network, which is the normal configuration for MFT hubs accepting external trading partners. The CVSS vector confirms no authentication (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and low attack complexity (AC:L), so an attacker does not need a valid account, a partner certificate, or an operator to click anything. Limiting factors: the disclosure is read-only (I:N, A:N), so integrity and availability of transfers are not at risk; exploitation requires the specific affected fix-pack levels listed (6.2.0.0-6.2.0.6_1, 6.2.1.0-6.2.1.2, 6.2.2.0-6.2.2.1) and does not apply to corrected builds; and deployments that place the Gateway behind a VPN, IP allow-list, or an authenticating reverse proxy prevent an unauthenticated external attacker from reaching the vulnerable path even while unpatched. No public exploit code was identified, so a working payload is not currently available to commodity attackers. |
| Impact | The signals point to a genuine but situational priority. CVSS 7.5 with AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N means no credentials, no user interaction, and no timing tricks are needed - the only barrier is network reachability to the Gateway's exposed interface, which in most MFT deployments is internet-facing by design because trading partners must reach it. Confidentiality impact is rated High while integrity and availability are None, so the realistic damage is disclosure of partner files, routing metadata, or credentials embedded in exchanged documents - a serious data-protection event but not a service outage or tampering scenario. Against that, exploitation status is unconfirmed: there is no CISA KEV entry and no public exploit code in the supplied data, and no EPSS score was provided, so the widespread, automated scanning pressure that typically accompanies KEV/EPSS-notable flaws cannot be assumed. That combination - high severity, unproven exploitation - means even a mid-sized municipal IT team in rybnik should treat this as urgent enough to schedule out-of-band patching, but it does not warrant emergency incident response absent other indicators. Caveats: the EPSS value and any SSVC exploitation signal are missing from the input, so the exploitation-probability side of the assessment rests on the absence of KEV/POC rather than on positive intelligence; if EPSS later proves high, the priority ranking changes materially. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with network reach to the partner-facing Sterling File Gateway interface sends direct requests to file, mailbox, or listing endpoints that should require an authenticated session; because the access-control check is missing, the Gateway returns sensitive content such as transferred business documents or routing metadata. The request pattern is simple enough to be scripted, so the same technique could be swept across many hosts if it is ever published. Impact is confidentiality-only: the attacker reads data and need not disturb transfers, making detection dependent on request logging rather than on observed service disruption. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 15, 2026
Improper access control in IBM Sterling File Gateway (6.2.0.0 through 6.2.0.6_1, 6.2.1.0-6.2.1.2, and 6.2.2.0-6.2.2.1) lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker reach file-transfer data they should not be able to see. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N, C:H) describes a trivially reachable, no-credentials-required read of sensitive information with no integrity or availability impact. No public exploit code or CISA KEV entry was present in the supplied intelligence at the time of analysis, and IBM has published a vendor fix.
RemediationAI
IBM has released a vendor fix; apply the corrected Sterling File Gateway fix pack identified in the IBM support page https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7287180 for your 6.2.0.x, 6.2.1.x, or 6.2.2.x line, and treat any 6.2.0.6_1, 6.2.1.2, or 6.2.2.1 build as vulnerable until upgraded. In parallel, reduce the exposed surface: restrict inbound access to the Gateway's HTTP/S and administrative ports to known trading-partner source IP ranges or require VPN/allow-listed egress, accepting the operational cost of partner onboarding changes; move administrative and dashboard interfaces onto a management VLAN that is unreachable from the partner-facing listener. If an immediate upgrade is impossible, front the Gateway with a reverse proxy that enforces authenticated sessions on the affected request paths and log/alert on any request that returns file or mailbox metadata without a valid session - this will not close the underlying access-control gap but will detect and blunt trivial attempts. After patching, review Gateway and Sterling B2B Integrator logs for anomalous unauthenticated reads of mailbox or file-listing endpoints, since disclosure may already have occurred.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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
Sterling File Gateway is the managed file transfer (MFT) front end of IBM's Sterling B2B Integrator stack, handling partner onboarding, mailbox routing, and protocol-based exchange of business documents over HTTP/S, SFTP, and related channels. The flaw is classified CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), meaning the enforcement point that should verify whether the requesting principal is entitled to a given resource - mailbox, file listing, transfer endpoint, or administrative view - either fails open or can be bypassed. Because the CVSS vector shows PR:N and UI:N, the missing check is reachable before any authentication boundary is satisfied, so the weakness is best understood as an authorization/access-control gap in the web-facing service rather than a flaw in a cryptographic primitive. The single CPE (cpe:2.3:a:ibm:sterling_file_gateway:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) is a wildcard across all confirmed vulnerable fix-pack levels, so exact build-level affectedness must be resolved against IBM's own matrix rather than from CPE alone.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Unauthenticated remote read of sensitive files per the advisory, so PR:N and AV:N; no integrity or availability impact, so I:N/A:N.
Primary rating from Vendor (ibm).
CVSS VectorVendor: ibm
DescriptionCVE.org
IBM Sterling File Gateway 6.2.0.0 through 6.2.0.6_1, 6.2.1.0 - 6.2.1.2, 6.2.2.0 - 6.2.2.1 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information due to improper access control.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-78141
GHSA-94f8-33jr-325g
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB