CVE-2025-36003 Overview
CVE-2025-36003 affects IBM Security Verify Governance Identity Manager version 10.0.2. The vulnerability allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to obtain sensitive information through detailed technical error messages returned by the application. This falls under [CWE-209] Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information. The exposed data can support reconnaissance and enable follow-on attacks against the identity governance platform. IBM has published a support advisory addressing the issue.
Critical Impact
Remote attackers can harvest configuration, stack trace, and environment details from verbose error responses without authentication, aiding lateral attacks against identity infrastructure.
Affected Products
- IBM Security Verify Governance Identity Manager 10.0.2
- Deployments using the ibm:security_verify_governance component
- Identity governance environments exposing the web interface to untrusted networks
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-28 - CVE-2025-36003 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-36003
Vulnerability Analysis
IBM Security Verify Governance Identity Manager 10.0.2 returns verbose technical error messages to unauthenticated remote clients. When the application encounters an exception, the response includes implementation details such as stack traces, internal class names, framework versions, database identifiers, or file paths. Attackers can trigger these errors by submitting malformed input or probing specific endpoints. The information disclosure is limited to confidentiality with no direct integrity or availability impact, matching the observed CVSS profile. The EPSS score of 0.314% reflects a low but non-trivial likelihood of exploitation attempts.
Root Cause
The root cause is improper error handling within the application. Exception paths surface raw diagnostic output to the HTTP response body instead of returning sanitized, generic error messages. This is a classic [CWE-209] pattern where debug-oriented output was not suppressed for production deployments.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires only network access to the Verify Governance web interface. An attacker sends crafted requests designed to induce parsing failures, authentication errors, or backend exceptions. The server responds with technical diagnostics that reveal architectural detail. No credentials or user interaction are required. Because the vulnerability is passive information disclosure, no verified public exploit code exists at the time of publication.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-36003
Indicators of Compromise
- HTTP responses from the Verify Governance instance containing Java stack traces, class names, or SQL fragments
- Repeated requests to identity governance endpoints returning HTTP 500 with large response bodies
- Unusual scanning against /identity or REST API paths from a single external source
Detection Strategies
- Inspect web server and reverse proxy logs for spikes in 4xx and 5xx responses tied to Verify Governance
- Deploy WAF or IDS signatures that match verbose Java exception patterns in outbound responses
- Correlate authentication endpoint errors with subsequent enumeration attempts against the same source IP
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on outbound HTTP responses containing keywords such as java.lang, Caused by:, or at com.ibm. from production hosts
- Baseline normal error rates and flag deviations targeting identity governance URLs
- Retain application server logs long enough to reconstruct probing sessions during incident response
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-36003
Immediate Actions Required
- Apply the fix referenced in the IBM Support Patch Note for Security Verify Governance Identity Manager 10.0.2
- Restrict network access to the administrative and identity governance interfaces to trusted management networks
- Review recent web server logs for evidence of error-based reconnaissance against the appliance
Patch Information
IBM has released remediation guidance in the IBM Support Patch Note. Administrators should follow the vendor instructions to upgrade or apply the interim fix to the 10.0.2 branch and confirm the deployment is running the patched build after remediation.
Workarounds
- Configure the application server to return generic error pages and suppress stack traces in HTTP responses
- Place the Verify Governance web tier behind a reverse proxy or WAF that strips or rewrites verbose error content
- Disable debug and development logging modes in production configurations until the patch is applied
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
