Db2 Recovery ExpertApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-27903

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 DB2 Recovery Expert for LUW 5.5 Interim Fix 002 IBM Db2 Recovery Expert for Linux, UNIX and Windows transmits data in a cleartext communication channel that could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques.

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 DB2 Recovery Expert for LUW transmits sensitive data over unencrypted communication channels, enabling man-in-the-middle attackers to intercept and obtain confidential information during transit.

MitigationEnable TLS/SSL encryption for all communications within IBM DB2 Recovery Expert or ensure communications occur over properly encrypted network paths to prevent interception.

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
Db2 Recovery ExpertApplication
Affected:= 5.5.0

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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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. Verify IBM DB2 Recovery Expert installation and version
    Locate the IBM DB2 Recovery Expert installation directory and check the product version (typically found in about dialog, version file, or installation metadata). Compare your installed version to the affected range (= 5.5.0).
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.5.0 and the product is in use.
  2. Identify communication configuration settings
    Examine IBM DB2 Recovery Expert configuration files or settings related to network communications, database connections, or client-server communication parameters.
    Affected if Communication settings do not enforce TLS/SSL encryption and allow plaintext transmission.
  3. Inspect SSL/TLS encryption status
    Review the security or connection settings within IBM DB2 Recovery Expert to determine whether SSL/TLS encryption is enabled for data in transit.
    Affected if SSL/TLS encryption is disabled or not configured for communications.
  4. Verify network traffic protection
    If possible, inspect network communication settings or documentation to confirm whether all communications are routed through encrypted channels.
    Affected if Communications can occur over unencrypted channels and sensitive data may be transmitted in plaintext.

A user is affected if IBM DB2 Recovery Expert version 5.5.0 is installed and communications are configured to allow unencrypted data transmission.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Enable TLS/SSL encryption for all communications within IBM DB2 Recovery Expert or ensure communications occur over properly encrypted network paths to prevent interception.

Fix this in Db2 Recovery Expert Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get help mitigating

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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-27903 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-27903 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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