CVE-2025-36153
📋 TL;DR
IBM Concert versions 1.0.0 through 2.0.0 contain a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript into the web interface. This can lead to session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions within authenticated user sessions. Organizations running affected IBM Concert installations are at risk.
💻 Affected Systems
- IBM Concert
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers steal administrator credentials, gain full system control, and compromise sensitive organizational data.
Likely Case
Attackers steal user session cookies or credentials, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, the attack surface is minimized, though some risk remains if other vulnerabilities exist.
🎯 Exploit Status
XSS vulnerabilities typically have low exploitation complexity, especially when unauthenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.0.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7252019
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download IBM Concert version 2.0.1 or later from IBM support. 2. Backup current installation. 3. Apply the update following IBM's installation guide. 4. Restart the application server.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
allDeploy a WAF with XSS protection rules to filter malicious input.
Content Security Policy (CSP)
allImplement strict CSP headers to restrict script execution sources.
Add header: Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate IBM Concert behind a reverse proxy with XSS filtering
- Restrict network access to only trusted users and implement strong authentication
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check IBM Concert version via admin interface or configuration files. If version is between 1.0.0 and 2.0.0 inclusive, it's vulnerable.Check Version:
Check application.properties or version.txt in installation directoryVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 2.0.1 or later and test XSS payloads are properly sanitized.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual JavaScript payloads in HTTP requests
- Multiple failed XSS attempts
Network Indicators:
- Suspicious script tags or JavaScript in HTTP traffic to Concert endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (url="*concert*" AND (message="*<script>*" OR message="*javascript:*"))