CVE-2025-36375: IBM DataPower Gateway CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2025-36375 Overview

IBM DataPower Gateway is vulnerable to a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute malicious and unauthorized actions transmitted from a user that the website trusts. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of IBM DataPower Gateway across the 10.5.x and 10.6.x release lines, posing a significant risk to organizations relying on this API gateway for their enterprise integrations.

Critical Impact

Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions on the DataPower Gateway, potentially leading to unauthorized configuration changes, policy modifications, or service disruptions.

Affected Products

• IBM DataPower Gateway 10.6CD versions 10.6.1.0 through 10.6.5.0
• IBM DataPower Gateway 10.5.0 versions 10.5.0.0 through 10.5.0.20
• IBM DataPower Gateway 10.6.0 versions 10.6.0.0 through 10.6.0.8

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-01 - CVE CVE-2025-36375 published to NVD
• 2026-04-01 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-36375

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery), which occurs when a web application fails to properly verify that requests originated from the intended user. In the context of IBM DataPower Gateway, the administrative interface lacks sufficient anti-CSRF protections, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that will be automatically authenticated when executed by a logged-in administrator.

The vulnerability requires network access and user interaction, meaning an attacker must convince an authenticated user to visit a malicious page or click a specially crafted link while they have an active session with the DataPower Gateway administrative interface.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins in the IBM DataPower Gateway web management interface. The application does not adequately implement anti-CSRF tokens or verify the Referer and Origin headers to ensure that state-changing requests are intentionally initiated by the authenticated user. This architectural weakness allows attackers to forge requests that appear legitimate to the server.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker would typically craft a malicious HTML page or embed hidden form submissions within a seemingly innocuous website. When an authenticated DataPower Gateway administrator visits this malicious page while logged into the gateway's management interface, the browser automatically includes their session credentials with the forged request, causing the gateway to execute unauthorized actions.

The exploitation scenario typically involves social engineering techniques to lure administrators to attacker-controlled web pages. Since the vulnerability affects the administrative interface, successful exploitation could result in significant unauthorized modifications to gateway configurations, policies, or security settings.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-36375

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected configuration changes in DataPower Gateway policies or settings that administrators did not authorize
• Administrative audit logs showing configuration modifications originating from unusual source IP addresses or at unexpected times
• Browser history or network logs showing administrators accessing unfamiliar external websites shortly before gateway changes occurred
• Unusual patterns in gateway access logs indicating automated or rapid-fire administrative requests

Detection Strategies

• Enable comprehensive audit logging on the DataPower Gateway administrative interface to capture all configuration changes with source information
• Implement network monitoring to detect anomalous outbound connections from administrator workstations to untrusted domains
• Deploy web application firewalls (WAF) with CSRF detection capabilities in front of administrative interfaces
• Monitor for suspicious HTTP requests to the DataPower Gateway management interface that lack proper anti-CSRF tokens

Monitoring Recommendations

• Review DataPower Gateway audit logs daily for unauthorized configuration changes or suspicious administrative activity
• Implement real-time alerting for critical configuration modifications such as policy changes, certificate updates, or service deployments
• Monitor administrator browser activity and network connections during active sessions for signs of CSRF exploitation
• Establish baseline administrative activity patterns to detect anomalous behavior indicative of CSRF attacks

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-36375

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the latest security patches from IBM as documented in the IBM Support Page
• Restrict administrative interface access to trusted networks and implement IP-based access controls
• Advise administrators to use dedicated browser sessions for DataPower Gateway administration and avoid browsing untrusted sites while logged in
• Enable and enforce multi-factor authentication for all administrative access to the gateway

Patch Information

IBM has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Organizations should upgrade to patched versions immediately. Refer to the IBM Support Page for detailed patch information and upgrade instructions specific to your DataPower Gateway version.

Workarounds

• Implement network segmentation to isolate the DataPower Gateway administrative interface from general network traffic
• Configure web proxies to block administrator access to untrusted external sites during management sessions
• Use browser extensions that provide additional CSRF protection or operate in isolated browser profiles for administrative tasks
• Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers where possible to limit the impact of potential CSRF attacks

# Configuration example - Network access restriction for DataPower administrative interface
# Restrict management interface access to specific trusted IP ranges
# This should be configured at the network/firewall level

# Example iptables rules to restrict access to DataPower management port (9090)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9090 -s 10.0.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9090 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9090 -j DROP