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Websphere Application ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-14915

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.0.0.4 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.3 IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty is affected by privilege escalation. A privileged user could gain additional access to the application server.

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 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.3 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows a privileged user to gain additional access to the application server. This is a HIGH-severity issue (CVSS 7.2) affecting the access control mechanisms of the platform.

MitigationApply the appropriate IBM fix pack or security patch for WebSphere Application Server Liberty to address the privilege escalation vulnerability. Consult IBM's security bulletin for the specific fixed version and update within the organization's patching timeline.

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:>= 17.0.0.3, < 26.0.0.4

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Confirm IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty is installed
    Identify whether your environment includes IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty by checking your installed software inventory or product documentation
    Affected if The product is not IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty, then this CVE does not apply
  2. Determine the installed version of WebSphere Liberty
    Locate the version information for your WebSphere Application Server Liberty installation using the product's version reporting mechanism or check the installed product files
    Affected if Unable to retrieve a version number for comparison
  3. Compare your installed version against the affected range
    Check if your installed version falls within version 17.0.0.3 through 26.0.0.3 (versions greater than or equal to 17.0.0.3 and less than 26.0.0.4)
    Affected if Your installed version is 17.0.0.3, 17.0.0.4, 18.0.0.x, 19.0.0.x, 20.0.0.x, 21.0.0.x, 22.0.0.x, 23.0.0.x, 24.0.0.x, 25.0.0.x, or 26.0.0.0 through 26.0.0.3, indicating you are within the affected version range
  4. Verify if privileged user access controls are configured
    Examine your access control configuration for WebSphere Liberty to confirm whether privileged user roles or administrative access controls are defined and active in your environment
    Affected if Privileged user accounts or administrative roles are configured and the installed version is within the affected range, indicating potential exposure to this privilege escalation vulnerability

You are affected by this CVE if you have IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty installed with a version between 17.0.0.3 and 26.0.0.3 inclusive, and you have privileged or administrative user access configured in your environment.

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 26.0.0.4 or later
Fixed in 26.0.0.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate IBM fix pack or security patch for WebSphere Application Server Liberty to address the privilege escalation vulnerability. Consult IBM's security bulletin for the specific fixed version and update within the organization's patching timeline.

Recommended fix High confidence

26.0.0.4 or later

  1. Back up all IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty configurations, applications, and runtime data
  2. Download IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty version 26.0.0.4 or later from IBM Fix Central or your entitled IBM software repository
  3. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment to verify application compatibility
  4. Install the new version following standard IBM installation procedures
  5. Migrate existing configurations to the new version if needed
  6. Verify the fix by confirming the server starts without errors
  7. Deploy the upgraded version to production
Caveat Review IBM WebSphere Migration Guide for any compatibility considerations with your applications and configurations

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

Fix this in Websphere Application Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.

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-2025-14915 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