Watson Knowledge Catalog On Cloud Pak For DataWeb browser · Ibm

CVE-2022-41731

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Watson Knowledge Catalog on Cloud Pak for Data 4.5.0 is vulnerable to SQL injection. A remote attacker could send specially crafted SQL statements, which could allow the attacker to view, add, modify or delete information in the back-end database. IBM X-Force ID: 237402.

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

SQL injection vulnerability in IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog on Cloud Pak for Data version 4.5.0 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands against the backend database, enabling unauthorized viewing, addition, modification, or deletion of data.

MitigationApply IBM security patches for Cloud Pak for Data 4.5.0 or upgrade to a patched version. If no patch available, implement web application firewall (WAF) controls and restrict database access as temporary mitigation while developing permanent fix.

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
Watson Knowledge Catalog On Cloud Pak For DataWeb browser
Affected:= 4.5.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Cloud Pak for Data version
    Run 'cloudctl version' or check the Cloud Pak for Data installed version via the administration console or oc get cm ibm-cpd-config -n <namespace> -o jsonpath='{.data.version}'
    Affected if The installed version equals exactly 4.5.0
  2. Identify Watson Knowledge Catalog version
    Run 'oc get wkc crinstance -A' or check the WKC operator version via Operator Lifecycle Manager, or inspect the WKC custom resource: oc get wkc <instance-name> -n <namespace> -o jsonpath='{.spec.version}'
    Affected if Watson Knowledge Catalog version is 4.5.0
  3. Check for unauthenticated network exposure
    Review network policies and ingress configurations: oc get networkpolicy -A and oc get ingress -A. Verify if the WKC service (port 9443 or similar) is exposed without authentication mechanisms in place
    Affected if The WKC service is directly accessible from external networks without requiring authentication
  4. Verify backend database connectivity
    Check if the Watson Knowledge Catalog pods have direct network access to the backend database (Db2 or PostgreSQL) by reviewing pod network policies: oc get networkpolicy -n <namespace> -o wide
    Affected if Database is accessible from WKC pods without additional authentication layers between application and database

You are affected if Watson Knowledge Catalog on Cloud Pak for Data is installed at version exactly 4.5.0 and is network-accessible to unauthenticated attackers.

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

Apply IBM security patches for Cloud Pak for Data 4.5.0 or upgrade to a patched version. If no patch available, implement web application firewall (WAF) controls and restrict database access as temporary mitigation while developing permanent fix.

Fix this in Watson Knowledge Catalog On Cloud Pak For Data Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2022-41731 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