CVE-2025-36326
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 Cognos Controller 11.0.0 through 11.0.1, and IBM Controller 11.1.0 through 11.1.1 could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information due to the use of hardcoded cryptographic keys for signing session cookies.
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 confidenceIBM Cognos Controller versions 11.0.0-11.0.1 and 11.1.0-11.1.1 use hardcoded cryptographic keys to sign session cookies. An attacker who obtains these keys (through reverse engineering, configuration file access, or other means) can forge valid session cookies, potentially allowing authentication bypass, privilege escalation, or unauthorized access to sensitive data.
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>= 11.0.0, <= 11.0.1>= 11.1.0, <= 11.1.1CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed IBM Cognos Controller versionUse the product's About or version information feature (typically in the Administration console or via the cogconfig.bat/sh utility) to determine the exact version number installedAffected if The installed version falls within 11.0.0-11.0.1 or 11.1.0-11.1.1
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Locate session cookie signing configurationExamine the IBM Cognos Controller configuration files (commonly in the configuration directory or webapps folder) for settings related to session management and cookie signingAffected if Configuration files contain hardcoded cryptographic keys used for session cookie signature validation
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Inspect application configuration for embedded keysSearch configuration XML or properties files within the IBM Cognos Controller installation directory for patterns resembling cryptographic keys, salt values, or secret tokens used for session encryptionAffected if Hardcoded secret keys, salts, or signing keys are found directly in configuration or application files rather than retrieved from an external secure key management system
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Review web.xml or security descriptor filesExamine the deployment descriptors and security configuration files for session cookie security settings and any embedded cryptographic materialAffected if The security configuration references hardcoded keys or static secrets for cookie signing rather than dynamically managed keys
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Check for reverse-engineerable binary or class filesReview the application binaries or JAR files for embedded strings that may contain cryptographic keys used for session validationAffected if Hardcoded keys are discoverable within application binaries through string extraction or decompilation tools
A user is affected if their IBM Cognos Controller version is 11.0.0-11.0.1 or 11.1.0-11.1.1 AND configuration or application files contain hardcoded cryptographic keys used for signing session cookies.
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.
From vendor dataReplace all hardcoded cryptographic keys with properly managed keys from a secure key management system (KMS) or environment variables, and implement key rotation. Consider invalidating existing sessions after remediation to prevent token reuse by attackers who may have captured keys.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation16.0 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-2025-36326 — 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-2025-36326 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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- 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