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MqApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-0985

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 MQ 9.3 LTS, 9.3 CD, 9.4 LTS, and 9.4 CD stores potentially sensitive information in environment variables that could be obtained by a local user.

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 MQ versions 9.3 LTS, 9.3 CD, 9.4 LTS, and 9.4 CD store potentially sensitive information (such as credentials, connection strings, or tokens) in environment variables. A local user with access to the system can read these environment variables and obtain the sensitive data, leading to confidentiality impact.

MitigationReview all environment variables used by IBM MQ for sensitive data and migrate to secure credential storage mechanisms (e.g., IBM MQ password files, OS keyrills, or secrets management tools). Restrict access to environment variables and ensure least-privilege access controls on the system.

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
MqApplication
Affected:= 9.3.0= 9.4.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Identify installed IBM MQ version
    Run 'dspmqver' command or check /opt/mqm/bin directory for mqversion file. Also check /var/mqm/mqversion.ini for version information.
    Affected if Installed version matches 9.3.0 or 9.4.0 (LTS or CD variants)
  2. List IBM MQ processes and their environment
    Use 'ps -ef | grep mq' to find running MQ processes, then inspect /proc/<pid>/environ for each process to view its environment variables.
    Affected if MQ processes have environment variables containing credentials, connection strings, or tokens
  3. Inspect MQ configuration files for variable references
    Check /var/mqm/qm.ini, /var/mqm/mqs.ini, and mqsc files in /var/mqm/qmgrs/<qmgr>/ for any references to environment variable usage (look for patterns like $VARIABLE or ${VARIABLE}).
    Affected if Configuration files reference environment variables that could contain sensitive data
  4. Review MQ service startup scripts
    Examine /etc/init.d/qm.*, systemd service files, or /var/mqm/mqstartup scripts for environment variable definitions used by MQ services.
    Affected if Startup scripts define or export sensitive values in environment variables
  5. Check file permissions on environment variable sources
    Review read access to /etc/environment, ~/.bashrc, ~/.profile, or any custom scripts that set MQ-related environment variables.
    Affected if Non-privileged users can read files containing MQ environment variables

A user is affected if IBM MQ version 9.3.0 or 9.4.0 is running and sensitive data such as passwords, tokens, or connection strings are stored in environment variables accessible to local users.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Review all environment variables used by IBM MQ for sensitive data and migrate to secure credential storage mechanisms (e.g., IBM MQ password files, OS keyrills, or secrets management tools). Restrict access to environment variables and ensure least-privilege access controls on the system.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Apply latest IBM MQ 9.3.x or 9.4.x fix pack/interim fix (e.g., 9.3.0.25, 9.4.0.15, or later)

  1. 1. Identify your current IBM MQ version and installation directory by running 'dspmqver' or checking the installation location
  2. 2. Navigate to IBM Fix Central (fixcentral.dhe.ibm.com) and search for IBM MQ
  3. 3. Select your specific version (9.3.0.x or 9.4.0.x) and look for security fixes related to CVE-2025-0985
  4. 4. Download and apply the appropriate interim fix (IF) or fix pack that addresses this vulnerability
  5. 5. After applying the fix, restart the queue manager to ensure the changes take effect
  6. 6. Verify the fix by confirming environment variables no longer contain sensitive information
Caveat Fix packs are typically cumulative and non-breaking; test in non-production first

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

Fix this in Mq Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2025-0985 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