Infosphere Information ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2023-32336

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-22
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 InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 is affected by a remote code execution vulnerability due to insecure deserialization in an RMI service. IBM X-Force ID: 255285.

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 InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 contains a remote code execution vulnerability in an RMI service caused by insecure deserialization. Attackers can exploit this by sending specially crafted malicious serialized Java objects to the RMI endpoint, leading to arbitrary code execution on the target system.

MitigationApply the IBM patch for CVE-2023-32336 or upgrade to a fixed version of InfoSphere Information Server. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the vulnerable RMI service and consider disabling the service if not required for business operations.

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
Infosphere Information ServerApplication
Affected:= 11.7

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. Identify if IBM InfoSphere Information Server is installed
    Check for IBM InfoSphere Information Server processes running on the system, or look for installation directories typical of IBM software products. On Windows, check the services list for InfoSphere-related services.
    Affected if The software is installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of InfoSphere Information Server
    Locate the version information for the installation, typically found in product documentation, installation logs, or version properties files within the IBM InfoSphere installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.7
  3. Check if the RMI service is running and exposed
    Identify whether the RMI service component of InfoSphere Information Server is currently running. Network scanning or service enumeration can reveal if RMI ports (typically high-numbered ports) are listening.
    Affected if The RMI service is running and accessible on the network
  4. Verify if RMI service accepts deserialized Java objects
    Inspect network traffic or logs for incoming connections to the RMI endpoint, particularly any suspicious serialized Java object traffic.
    Affected if The RMI service accepts connections and processes serialized Java objects from untrusted sources

A system is affected if IBM InfoSphere Information Server version 11.7 is installed and the RMI service is running and accessible, allowing unauthenticated attackers to send malicious serialized Java objects.

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 the IBM patch for CVE-2023-32336 or upgrade to a fixed version of InfoSphere Information Server. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the vulnerable RMI service and consider disabling the service if not required for business operations.

Fix this in Infosphere Information Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,280
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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-2023-32336 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