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Websphere Application ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2024-27268

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 24.0.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
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 Liberty 18.0.0.2 through 24.0.0.4 is 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: 284574.

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 Application Server Liberty versions 18.0.0.2 through 24.0.0.4 is vulnerable to a memory-based denial of service attack. A remote attacker can send specially crafted HTTP requests that cause excessive memory consumption, potentially exhausting server resources and making the application unavailable.

MitigationApply IBM security patch for WebSphere Application Server Liberty (version 24.0.0.5 or later per the version range) to remediate this vulnerability. Consider implementing request rate limiting or web application firewall rules as an interim defense layer.

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:>= 18.0.0.2, < 24.0.0.5

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify WebSphere Application Server Liberty installation
    Locate the installation directory and check for the presence of Liberty core files such as wlp/lib/versions/webProfile8 or check the product.ini file in the wlp directory. The product name should indicate 'WebSphere Application Server Liberty'.
    Affected if The product is IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty.
  2. Determine installed Liberty version
    Run the command 'productInfo version' from the wlp/bin directory, or check the wlp/usr/servers/serverName/server.xml file for the version attribute. Alternatively, inspect the 'wlp/lib/versions/webProfileX' folder name where X indicates the profile level.
    Affected if The installed version falls between 18.0.0.2 and 24.0.0.4 inclusive.
  3. Verify HTTP endpoint exposure
    Examine the server.xml configuration file in wlp/usr/servers/<serverName>/ for <httpEndpoint> elements. Check if HTTP or HTTPS listeners are defined and bound to network interfaces accessible externally.
    Affected if HTTP endpoints are enabled and accessible over the network.
  4. Check for web-facing configuration
    Review network binding settings in server.xml. Look for host attributes set to '0.0.0.0' or external IP addresses on httpEndpoint definitions, indicating the server accepts external connections.
    Affected if The server is configured to accept HTTP requests from external or untrusted networks.

A user is affected if WebSphere Application Server Liberty is installed with a version between 18.0.0.2 and 24.0.0.4 and the HTTP endpoint is network-accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 24.0.0.5 or later
Fixed in 24.0.0.5
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM security patch for WebSphere Application Server Liberty (version 24.0.0.5 or later per the version range) to remediate this vulnerability. Consider implementing request rate limiting or web application firewall rules as an interim defense layer.

Recommended fix High confidence

24.0.0.5

  1. Download IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty version 24.0.0.5 or later from IBM Fix Central or your authorized IBM repository
  2. Back up your current server configuration, applications, and data
  3. Stop the WebSphere Application Server Liberty instance
  4. Install version 24.0.0.5 or later following IBM's standard installation procedures
  5. Verify all applications deploy and function correctly after the upgrade
  6. Restart the server
Caveat Review IBM's migration guide for Liberty - while minor configuration adjustments may be needed, major breaking changes are unlikely for point release upgrades

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Websphere Application Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-27268 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