CVE-2025-36262 Overview
CVE-2025-36262 affects IBM Planning Analytics Local versions 2.0.0 through 2.0.106 and 2.1.0 through 2.1.13. The vulnerability allows a malicious privileged user to bypass the user interface and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information. The root cause is improper validation of input, tracked under CWE-1286: Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input.
An authenticated attacker with high privileges can exploit this flaw over the network without user interaction. The scope is limited to confidentiality, as the flaw does not affect integrity or availability of the system.
Critical Impact
An authenticated privileged user can bypass UI-level controls in IBM Planning Analytics Local to read sensitive data that should remain protected.
Affected Products
- IBM Planning Analytics Local 2.0.0 through 2.0.106
- IBM Planning Analytics Local 2.1.0 through 2.1.13
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-09-30 - CVE-2025-36262 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-36262
Vulnerability Analysis
IBM Planning Analytics Local exposes application interfaces that rely on client-side or UI-layer validation to constrain what privileged users can request. The affected versions fail to enforce equivalent validation on the server side. A privileged user can submit crafted inputs directly to backend endpoints and retrieve data the UI would normally suppress.
The weakness maps to CWE-1286, which covers improper validation of the syntactic correctness of input. The vulnerability does not permit modification of data or disruption of service. It only breaks the confidentiality boundary enforced by the UI.
Because exploitation requires high privileges, the attacker must already possess a valid administrative or elevated account on the Planning Analytics instance. This limits mass exploitation but raises risk in environments with weak internal segregation of duties or shared administrative accounts.
Root Cause
The application depends on UI-layer restrictions rather than authoritative server-side validation. When a privileged user issues a request that bypasses the standard UI workflow, the server processes the request and returns data without confirming that the caller should receive it in that context.
Attack Vector
Exploitation occurs over the network against the Planning Analytics Local service. An authenticated privileged user issues crafted API or HTTP requests that bypass the UI validation layer. No user interaction is required beyond the attacker's own actions. The verified proof-of-concept is not publicly available, and no active exploitation has been reported.
See the IBM Support advisory for vendor-provided technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-36262
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected direct API calls to Planning Analytics Local backend endpoints from privileged accounts that normally interact only through the UI.
- Access logs showing privileged users retrieving datasets or resources outside their usual workflow patterns.
- Anomalous volume of read operations from a single administrative session in a short time window.
Detection Strategies
- Enable and centralize IBM Planning Analytics Local audit logs to capture privileged user actions and API-level requests.
- Baseline normal UI-driven request patterns for administrators and alert on deviations that indicate raw API access.
- Correlate authentication events with data-access events to identify privileged sessions that retrieve unusually broad information sets.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Forward Planning Analytics Local logs to a SIEM or data lake for long-term retention and query.
- Alert on repeated requests that return large response payloads to privileged accounts.
- Review administrative account inventories and remove or rotate accounts that no longer require elevated access.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-36262
Immediate Actions Required
- Apply the fix referenced in the IBM Support advisory for Planning Analytics Local.
- Inventory all Planning Analytics Local deployments and confirm versions against the affected ranges 2.0.0–2.0.106 and 2.1.0–2.1.13.
- Audit privileged accounts and remove standing administrative access where it is not required for daily operations.
- Rotate credentials for administrative accounts that show anomalous activity in recent logs.
Patch Information
IBM has published remediation guidance in the IBM Support Page for CVE-2025-36262. Administrators should upgrade to a fixed release above 2.0.106 in the 2.0.x branch or above 2.1.13 in the 2.1.x branch, per the vendor advisory.
Workarounds
- Restrict network access to the Planning Analytics Local management interface using firewall rules or reverse-proxy allowlists.
- Enforce least privilege on administrative accounts and require approval workflows for elevated access.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all privileged accounts that can reach the application.
# Example: restrict inbound access to Planning Analytics Local to a management subnet
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9510 -s 10.10.20.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9510 -j DROP
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
