Watsonx.dataApplication · Ibm

CVE-2025-36143

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Lakehouse (watsonx.data 2.2) could allow an authenticated privileged user to execute arbitrary commands on the system due to improper validation of user supplied input.

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 watsonx.data 2.2 (IBM Lakehouse) contains a command injection vulnerability where improper validation of user-supplied input allows an authenticated privileged user to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying system. This is a classic input validation failure where user data is passed to system shell commands without adequate sanitization.

MitigationImplement strict input validation and sanitization for all user-supplied parameters, preferably using parameterized queries or avoiding shell command execution entirely. Apply principle of least privilege to limit which authenticated users can access functionality that interacts with system commands.

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
Watsonx.dataApplication
Affected:= 2.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm IBM watsonx.data installation
    Identify if IBM watsonx.data or IBM Lakehouse software is present in the environment. Check system inventory, installed packages, or application listings for 'watsonx.data' or 'IBM Lakehouse' components.
    Affected if The product IBM watsonx.data is not present in the environment.
  2. Verify installed version
    Determine the exact version of IBM watsonx.data installed. Compare your installed version against the affected range: version 2.2.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.2, indicating the specific version affected by this CVE.
  3. Check for privileged user access
    Identify if authenticated privileged users exist in the watsonx.data authentication system. Review user role configurations and determine if any users have elevated privileges that could access functionality interacting with system commands.
    Affected if Privileged user accounts are configured and the command injection requires an authenticated privileged user to trigger.
  4. Audit for command injection indicators
    Review system logs, application audit logs, and security event logs for evidence of unexpected command execution, shell command anomalies, or suspicious command patterns originating from watsonx.data components.
    Affected if Unusual command execution patterns or shell invocations are found in logs, suggesting active exploitation or attempted exploitation.

The environment is affected if IBM watsonx.data version 2.2 is installed and privileged authenticated users have access to functionality that processes user-supplied input through system commands.

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

Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user-supplied parameters, preferably using parameterized queries or avoiding shell command execution entirely. Apply principle of least privilege to limit which authenticated users can access functionality that interacts with system commands.

Fix this in Watsonx.data Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2025-36143 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
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