CVE-2024-25026
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 · uneditedIBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5, 9.0 and IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty 17.0.0.3 through 24.0.0.4 are vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by sending a specially crafted request. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause the server to consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 281516.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability in IBM WebSphere Application Server (traditional 8.5, 9.0 and Liberty 17.0.0.3 through 24.0.0.4) allows remote attackers to send specially crafted requests that cause excessive memory consumption, potentially exhausting server resources and making the application unavailable.
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>= 8.5.0.0, <= 8.5.5.25>= 9.0.0.0, <= 9.0.5.19>= 17.0.0.3, <= 24.0.0.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify WebSphere version and editionFor traditional: run versionInfo.sh (Linux/Unix) or versionInfo.bat (Windows) in the bin directory. For Liberty: check the server.xml file or run bin/info.sh in the Liberty root directory. Look for the version number in the output.Affected if Installed version is 8.5.0.0 through 8.5.5.25, OR 9.0.0.0 through 9.0.5.19, OR 17.0.0.3 through 24.0.0.4 (Liberty)
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Confirm WebSphere is running as a serverCheck if the WebSphere application server process is active. On traditional: look for java processes with WebSphere classpath or check if the server1 (or custom node server) is running via admin console or wsadmin. On Liberty: verify the server is started via bin/server run or checking process list.Affected if The server is actively running and accepting HTTP requests on any port (default 9080 for traditional, 9080 for Liberty)
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Verify web container is enabledOn traditional: in admin console go to Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > your_server > Web container settings. On Liberty: check server.xml for the httpEndpoint element and ensure webContainer-1.0 feature is enabled in server.xml if needed.Affected if Web container is enabled and HTTP endpoints are configured to accept requests
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Review access logs for unusual request patternsCheck access logs for your application. On traditional: look in <profile>/logs/<server>/access_log or HTTP_plugin logs. On Liberty: check <server>/logs/http_access.log. Search for patterns of repeated requests from single sources or abnormally large request headers.Affected if You observe many requests with unusually large headers or payloads from external IPs, or signs of memory exhaustion in system logs
You are affected if your WebSphere version falls within 8.5.0.0-8.5.5.25, 9.0.0.0-9.0.5.19, or 17.0.0.3-24.0.0.4 (Liberty) and the web container is active and accepting HTTP requests.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply IBM's official patch for this vulnerability (contact IBM support for PTF/fix pack), and consider implementing rate limiting or web application firewall rules as a temporary mitigation until the patch can be deployed.
WebSphere Application Server traditional 8.5.5.26+, 9.0.5.20+; Liberty 24.0.0.5+
- 1. Identify the specific WebSphere Application Server edition and version currently installed (traditional or Liberty)
- 2. For WebSphere Application Server traditional 8.5.x: Upgrade to version 8.5.5.26 or later
- 3. For WebSphere Application Server traditional 9.0.x: Upgrade to version 9.0.5.20 or later
- 4. For WebSphere Application Server Liberty 17.0.0.3 through 24.0.0.4: Upgrade to version 24.0.0.5 or later
- 5. Download the appropriate fix from IBM Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral)
- 6. Apply the upgrade following IBM's standard installation procedures for your edition
- 7. After upgrade, verify the server starts successfully and test critical applications
- 8. Monitor server memory consumption after applying the fix to confirm the vulnerability is resolved
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-25026 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-25026 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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