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Websphere Application ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2014-0964

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-05-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 6.1.0.0 through 6.1.0.47 and 6.0.2.0 through 6.0.2.43 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted TLS traffic, as demonstrated by traffic from a CVE-2014-0160 vulnerability-assessment tool.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

IBM WebSphere Application Server versions 6.1.0.0-6.1.0.47 and 6.0.2.0-6.0.2.43 contain a denial-of-service vulnerability where crafted TLS traffic can cause the server to become unavailable. The vulnerability was discovered during CVE-2014-0160 (Heartbleed) vulnerability assessment scanning, indicating it's triggered by malformed TLS handshake messages.

MitigationUpgrade to a supported version of IBM WebSphere Application Server (7.0 or later) as versions 6.0 and 6.1 are end-of-life with no official patches available. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, consider network-level filtering of malformed TLS traffic or implementing a web application firewall.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Websphere Application ServerApplication
Affected:= 6.1.0.0= 6.1.0.1= 6.1.0.2= 6.1.0.3= 6.1.0.5= 6.1.0.7= 6.1.0.9= 6.1.0.11= 6.1.0.12= 6.1.0.13= 6.1.0.14= 6.1.0.15

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed WebSphere Application Server version
    Locate the installation directory and check the version file. On Unix/Linux, common paths include /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/was.product.properties or the install_root/properties/version files. Alternatively, log into the WebSphere Administrative Console and navigate to Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > [server_name] to view the version information.
    Affected if The installed version is 6.1.0.0 through 6.1.0.47, or 6.0.2.0 through 6.0.2.43
  2. Confirm TLS/SSL is enabled for the affected server
    In the WebSphere Administrative Console, navigate to Security > SSL certificate and key management > SSL configurations. Check if any SSL configurations are defined and assigned to the affected server's endpoints. Alternatively, inspect the server.xml configuration file in the config/cells directory for SSL-enabled transport channels.
    Affected if TLS or SSL is enabled and configured for the server, making it exposed to malformed TLS handshake traffic
  3. Verify the server is directly accessible over network
    Confirm the server has an accessible TLS listener on ports 443, 9443, or custom SSL ports. Check the server's endpoint configuration in the WebSphere Administrative Console under Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > [server_name] > Web container transport chains or SIP port settings.
    Affected if The server accepts TLS connections from the network, allowing external attackers to send malformed TLS handshake messages

The server is affected if it runs WebSphere Application Server version 6.1.0.0-6.1.0.47 or 6.0.2.0-6.0.2.43 with TLS/SSL enabled and network accessibility.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a supported version of IBM WebSphere Application Server (7.0 or later) as versions 6.0 and 6.1 are end-of-life with no official patches available. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, consider network-level filtering of malformed TLS traffic or implementing a web application firewall.

Fix this in Websphere Application Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-0964 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data