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Websphere Application ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-33104

HIGH · 7.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.5.5.28 / 9.0.5.24 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

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 8.5 and 9.0 is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session.

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 · high confidence

IBM WebSphere Application Server versions 8.5 and 9.0 contain a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Web UI. Attackers can inject arbitrary JavaScript code through user input fields, which then executes in the browsers of other users viewing the affected pages. This enables session hijacking and credentials disclosure within trusted sessions.

MitigationApply the official IBM patch for CVE-2025-33104 when available. In the interim, implement input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data in the Web UI, and consider restricting administrative access to trusted IP ranges.

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:>= 8.5, < 8.5.5.28>= 9.0, < 9.0.5.24

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/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 the installed WebSphere Application Server version
    Run the versionInfo command from the bin directory: ./versionInfo.sh (Unix) or versionInfo.bat (Windows). Alternatively, check the registry.xml file in the properties directory.
    Affected if The reported version is 8.5.x where x < 28, or 9.0.x where x < 24, or any version between 8.5 and 9.0 that is not 8.5.5.28 or 9.0.5.24 exactly.
  2. Confirm the Web UI administrative console is accessible
    Access the WebSphere admin console by navigating to the default HTTPS port (usually 9043 or 9443) on the server hostname, for example: https://hostname:9043/ibm/console. Verify the login page loads successfully.
    Affected if The admin console is reachable and accepts user credentials.
  3. Verify user input fields exist in the Web UI
    Log into the admin console and navigate to sections that accept user-supplied data, such as JNDI lookups, resource environment provider entries, or custom properties. These are typical locations where unsanitized input could trigger the XSS.
    Affected if The Web UI contains input fields that accept arbitrary text and display it back without immediate encoding in the response pages.

A user is affected if their IBM WebSphere Application Server version is 8.5.x below 8.5.5.28 or 9.0.x below 9.0.5.24, and the Web UI is accessible with user input fields present.

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 8.5.5.28 / 9.0.5.24 or later
Fixed in 8.5.5.289.0.5.24
Interim mitigation

Apply the official IBM patch for CVE-2025-33104 when available. In the interim, implement input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data in the Web UI, and consider restricting administrative access to trusted IP ranges.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.28 (for v8.5) or 9.0.5.24 (for v9.0)

  1. 1. Review IBM WebSphere Application Server fix pack release notes for versions 8.5.5.28 and 9.0.5.24 to understand included security fixes and any known issues
  2. 2. Back up your current WebSphere Application Server configuration, deployments, and applications
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fix pack (8.5.5.28 for v8.5 installations, 9.0.5.24 for v9.0 installations) from IBM Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral)
  4. 4. Stop all WebSphere Application Server processes in your environment
  5. 5. Install the fix pack using the IBM Installation Manager or Update Installer following IBM's standard procedures
  6. 6. Verify the fix pack installation was successful by checking the version via the deployment manager admin console or wsadmin command
  7. 7. Restart WebSphere Application Server processes
  8. 8. Test that the Web UI functions correctly and the XSS vulnerability is mitigated
Caveat Fix pack upgrades may introduce compatibility changes; test applications in a staging environment before production deployment

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2025-33104 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