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Websphere Application ServerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-36097

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0.5.24 / 25.0.0.8 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 WebSphere Application Server 9.0 and WebSphere Application Server Liberty 17.0.0.3 through 25.0.0.7 are vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by a stack-based overflow. An attacker can send a specially crafted request that cause the server to consume excessive memory resources.

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 9.0 and Liberty versions 17.0.0.3 through 25.0.0.7 contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause excessive memory consumption via specially crafted requests, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationApply IBM's cumulative security patches or upgrade to a fixed version beyond 25.0.0.7. As an interim control, implement request rate limiting and input validation at the application or network layer to mitigate exploitation.

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:>= 9.0.0.0, < 9.0.5.24>= 17.0.0.3, < 25.0.0.8

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 WebSphere installation
    Check for WebSphere processes or installation directories. Common paths: /opt/IBM/WebSphere, C:\IBM\WebSphere, or check for 'websphere' or 'liberty' processes via task manager or 'ps -ef | grep -i websphere'
    Affected if Neither WebSphere Application Server nor Liberty is installed - not affected
  2. Determine the exact product version
    For traditional WebSphere: check the versionInfo file at <install_dir>/bin/versionInfo.sh (Linux) or versionInfo.bat (Windows). For Liberty: check the 'liberty.version' file in the installation directory or run 'server version' command
    Affected if Unable to determine version - requires manual verification
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    For traditional WebSphere: version must be >= 9.0.0.0 and < 9.0.5.24. For Liberty: version must be >= 17.0.0.3 and < 25.0.0.8
    Affected if Installed version falls within 9.0.0.0 to 9.0.5.23 (traditional) OR 17.0.0.3 to 25.0.0.7 (Liberty)
  4. Verify network exposure
    Check if the WebSphere HTTP ports (default 9080 for HTTP, 9443 for HTTPS) are listening on interfaces accessible from untrusted networks. Use 'netstat -an | grep 9080' or check server.xml for host='0.0.0.0' binding
    Affected if Server HTTP endpoints are exposed to untrusted networks and version is within affected range

Affected if running IBM WebSphere Application Server 9.0.0.0-9.0.5.23 or Liberty 17.0.0.3-25.0.0.7 with network-accessible HTTP endpoints

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 9.0.5.24 / 25.0.0.8 or later
Fixed in 9.0.5.2425.0.0.8
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM's cumulative security patches or upgrade to a fixed version beyond 25.0.0.7. As an interim control, implement request rate limiting and input validation at the application or network layer to mitigate exploitation.

Recommended fix High confidence

WebSphere Application Server 9.0.5.24+ or WebSphere Application Server Liberty 25.0.0.8+

  1. Identify which WebSphere product and version is in use (traditional WAS 9.0.x or WebSphere Liberty)
  2. For WebSphere Application Server 9.0.x: Upgrade to version 9.0.5.24 or later
  3. For WebSphere Application Server Liberty: Upgrade to version 25.0.0.8 or later
  4. After upgrade, verify the server starts successfully and test critical functionality
  5. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by reviewing IBM fix pack documentation

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

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-2025-36097 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