dbcve.org
Websphere MqApplication · Ibm

CVE-2018-1543

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 MQ 8.0 and 9.0 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the failure to properly validate the SSL certificate. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 142598.

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 · moderate confidence

IBM WebSphere MQ 8.0 and 9.0 fail to properly validate SSL certificates, allowing remote attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks and intercept sensitive information transmitted between clients and the MQ queue manager.

MitigationEnable and enforce proper SSL certificate validation in MQ channel definitions and queue manager SSL configurations; ensure trust stores are properly configured with validated CA certificates.

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 MqApplication
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Determine WebSphere MQ version
    Run 'dspmqver' command or check the installation directory for version information. On Linux/Unix: /opt/mqm/bin/dspmqver. On Windows: check Programs and Features or the installation path.
    Affected if Version is 8.0 or 9.0 (any patch level within these major versions)
  2. Identify SSL/TLS enabled channels
    Use runmqsc to query channel definitions: 'DISPLAY CHANNEL(*) SSLCIPH'. This shows all channels with SSL cipher specs configured.
    Affected if Any channel has an SSLCIPH value set, indicating SSL/TLS is in use
  3. Check queue manager SSL configuration
    Use runmqsc and run 'DISPLAY QMGR SSLKEY' and 'DISPLAY QMGR SSLTASKS' to see if the queue manager has SSL configured. Also check 'DISPLAY QMGR CERTLABL' for certificate label settings.
    Affected if Queue manager has SSLKEY configured but certificate validation settings are not properly enforced
  4. Inspect channel SSL certificate validation settings
    Use runmqsc 'DISPLAY CHANNEL(channelname) SSLPEER' and check for empty or missing SSLPEER values. Also check 'DISPLAY CHANNEL(channelname) CERTLABL' for client certificate settings.
    Affected if Channels have SSLCIPH set but SSLPEER is blank or not configured, indicating certificate validation may not be enforced
  5. Review SSL/TLS configuration for missing or weak settings
    Check MQ Explorer or runmqsc for channel SSL settings including SSLCIPH (cipher specs), SSLCipherSpec and SSLVersion settings. Verify channels are not using deprecated or weak cipher specs.
    Affected if SSL is enabled on channels without proper validation configuration such as missing SSLPEER rules or improper trust store setup

If the installed WebSphere MQ version is 8.0 or 9.0 and SSL/TLS channels are configured without proper certificate validation (missing SSLPEER, improper trust store, or disabled validation), the environment is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.

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

Enable and enforce proper SSL certificate validation in MQ channel definitions and queue manager SSL configurations; ensure trust stores are properly configured with validated CA certificates.

Fix this in Websphere Mq Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1543 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2018-1543 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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