CVE-2025-36120
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 · uneditedIBM Storage Virtualize 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, and 8.7 could allow an authenticated user to escalate their privileges in an SSH session due to incorrect authorization checks to access 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 · moderate confidenceIBM Storage Virtualize versions 8.4 through 8.7 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where authenticated users can gain unauthorized access to resources through SSH sessions due to incorrect authorization checks, allowing them to perform actions beyond their intended permission level.
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>= 8.4.0.0, < 8.4.0.18>= 8.5.0.0, < 8.5.0.16>= 8.5.2.0, <= 8.5.2.3>= 8.6.0.0, < 8.6.0.9>= 8.7.0.0, < 8.7.0.6>= 8.7.3.0, < 8.7.3.3= 8.4.1.0= 8.4.2.0= 8.4.2.1= 8.4.3.1= 8.5.1.0= 8.5.3.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed IBM Storage Virtualize versionLog into the system CLI (SSH or console) and run the command `lsversion` or `system -tuple version` to retrieve the exact firmware version.Affected if The version number falls within any of these ranges: 8.4.0.0 to 8.4.0.17, 8.4.1.0, 8.4.2.0, 8.4.2.1, 8.4.3.1, 8.5.0.0 to 8.5.0.15, 8.5.1.0, 8.5.2.0 to 8.5.2.3, 8.5.3.0, 8.6.0.0 to 8.6.0.8, 8.7.0.0 to 8.7.0.5, or 8.7.3.0 to 8.7.3.2.
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Confirm SSH service is enabledFrom the system CLI, run `ssh s` or `lsuser -attr admin ssh` to check if SSH access is active for administrative users.Affected if SSH service is enabled and accessible to users.
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Review configured SSH usersRun `lsuser -delim ,` to list all users with accounts on the system, then check which users have SSH access by examining user attributes or group membership.Affected if Multiple users exist with SSH access, especially users with limited or non-administrative roles.
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Examine user authorization settingsUse `lsuser -attr <username>` for each SSH-enabled user to inspect their permission levels and compare against the actions they should be permitted to perform.Affected if Users have permissions that appear elevated beyond their assigned role, or if there is evidence users can execute commands outside their authorized scope.
You are affected if your IBM Storage Virtualize version is within the vulnerable ranges listed and SSH access is available to authenticated users on the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped8.4.0.188.5.0.168.6.0.9
Apply the IBM-provided fix pack for Storage Virtualize addressing CVE-2025-36120 and review SSH user access controls to ensure least-privilege principles are enforced.
Upgrade to 8.4.0.18, 8.5.0.16, 8.5.2.4, or 8.6.0.9 (or later respective releases) depending on your current version branch
- 1. Identify the current IBM Storage Virtualize version using the command line interface or management GUI
- 2. For systems running 8.4.0.0-8.4.0.17, upgrade to version 8.4.0.18 or later
- 3. For systems running 8.5.0.0-8.5.0.15, upgrade to version 8.5.0.16 or later
- 4. For systems running 8.5.2.0-8.5.2.3, upgrade to version 8.5.2.4 or later in the 8.5.2.x series
- 5. For systems running 8.6.0.0-8.6.0.8, upgrade to version 8.6.0.9 or later
- 6. After upgrade, verify the system is functioning normally and test SSH access with various user roles to confirm authorization controls are working correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation10.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-36120 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-36120 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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