CVE-2025-33110
📋 TL;DR
IBM OpenPages versions 9.0 and 9.1 with Watson are vulnerable to HTML injection, allowing attackers to inject malicious HTML that executes in victims' browsers within the site's security context. This affects organizations using these IBM OpenPages configurations, potentially enabling session hijacking or phishing attacks against authenticated users.
💻 Affected Systems
- IBM OpenPages with Watson
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, potentially leading to data theft or unauthorized system access.
Likely Case
Attackers inject phishing forms or malicious scripts to steal credentials or session tokens from authenticated users viewing compromised pages.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, malicious HTML is rendered as plain text rather than executable code, preventing exploitation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires finding vulnerable input fields and crafting malicious HTML payloads; typically requires some level of user interaction.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Apply fixes per IBM advisory
Vendor Advisory: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7250321
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Review IBM advisory for specific patch details
2. Apply IBM-recommended fixes for OpenPages 9.0 or 9.1
3. Restart OpenPages services
4. Verify fix implementation
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Enhancement
allImplement strict input validation to reject HTML tags in user-controllable fields
Output Encoding
allApply proper HTML encoding to all user-supplied content before rendering
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block HTML injection patterns
- Restrict user permissions to minimize attack surface for injection
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test user-controllable fields for HTML injection by attempting to inject basic HTML tags and checking if they renderCheck Version:
Check OpenPages version through administrative interface or configuration filesVerify Fix Applied:
Retest injection attempts after patching to confirm HTML tags are properly encoded and don't execute📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual HTML patterns in user input fields
- Multiple failed injection attempts
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing suspicious HTML tags in parameters
SIEM Query:
source="openpages" AND (http_request:*<script* OR http_request:*<iframe* OR http_request:*onload=*)