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Mq ApplianceApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-23225

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.4.2 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 MQ 9.3 LTS, 9.3 CD, 9.4 LTS, and 9.4 CD could allow an authenticated user to cause a denial of service due to the improper handling of invalid headers sent to the queue.

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 contain a denial of service vulnerability where authenticated users can send specially crafted invalid headers to a queue, causing the queue manager to fail or become unresponsive due to improper handling of these malformed headers.

MitigationApply the IBM MQ patch or upgrade to a fixed version as provided by IBM. In the interim, consider restricting queue access to only trusted authenticated users and monitoring for unusual queue activity.

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
Mq ApplianceApplication
Affected:<= 9.4.2>= 9.3.0.0, <= 9.3.0.27>= 9.4.0.0, <= 9.4.0.10

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 IBM MQ version
    Run 'dspmqver' command or check the IBM MQ installation directory for version information. On appliance, use 'runmqsc' or check /opt/mqm installation.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.3.0.0 through 9.3.0.27, or 9.4.0.0 through 9.4.0.10, or any version 9.4.2 or below on appliance.
  2. Confirm product type is IBM MQ Appliance
    Determine if the IBM MQ installation is running as an appliance (dedicated hardware appliance) rather than traditional queue manager on server. Check system documentation or run 'mqsinfo' if available.
    Affected if The affected product is specifically IBM MQ Appliance, not standard queue manager installations.
  3. Verify user authentication is enabled
    Check queue manager authentication settings using 'runmqsc' and DISPLAY AUTHREC commands, or check CHLAUTH and CONNAUTH settings in the queue manager configuration.
    Affected if User authentication is enabled (CONNAUTH set to an authentication mechanism), which is required for authenticated users to exploit this vulnerability.
  4. Review queue access controls
    Inspect ACLs and authorization records for queues using 'DISPLAY AUTHREC' or 'DISPLAY QPERMS' in runmqsc to determine which authenticated users can put messages to queues.
    Affected if Authenticated users have direct access to put messages on queues without additional approval or filtering.

You are affected if you are running IBM MQ Appliance versions 9.3.0.0-9.3.0.27, 9.4.0.0-9.4.0.10, or 9.4.2 and below with authenticated user access to queues.

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 a release after 9.4.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the IBM MQ patch or upgrade to a fixed version as provided by IBM. In the interim, consider restricting queue access to only trusted authenticated users and monitoring for unusual queue activity.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

IBM MQ 9.3.0.28+ (LTS), 9.3.1+ (CD), 9.4.0.11+ (LTS), 9.4.1+ (CD), or latest LTS release

  1. 1. Identify the current IBM MQ version in use by running 'dspmqver' or checking the IBM MQ console.
  2. 2. Determine if the installation is LTS (Long Term Support) or CD (Continuous Delivery) to select the appropriate upgrade path.
  3. 3. For IBM MQ 9.3 LTS: Upgrade to version 9.3.0.28 or later.
  4. 4. For IBM MQ 9.4 LTS: Upgrade to version 9.4.0.11 or later, or to 9.4.3 or later.
  5. 5. For IBM MQ 9.3 CD: Upgrade to version 9.3.1 or later.
  6. 6. For IBM MQ 9.4 CD: Upgrade to version 9.4.1 or later.
  7. 7. Download the appropriate IBM MQ fix pack from IBM Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/).
  8. 8. Stop all IBM MQ queue managers and listeners before applying the upgrade.
Caveat Review IBM MQ upgrade documentation for any compatibility changes between versions; test in non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Mq Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2025-23225 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