CVE-2025-36047 in WebSphere Application Server Liberty
Summary
by MITRE • 08/14/2025
IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty 18.0.0.2 through 25.0.0.8 is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by sending a specially-crafted request. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause the server to consume memory resources.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2025
IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty versions 18.0.0.2 through 25.0.0.8 contain a denial of service vulnerability that arises from improper handling of specially-crafted requests. This vulnerability falls under the category of resource exhaustion attacks where malicious input causes the server to consume excessive memory resources until system stability is compromised. The flaw represents a critical weakness in the application server's request processing mechanism, specifically affecting how it handles malformed or crafted HTTP requests that trigger unintended memory allocation patterns. The vulnerability is classified as a CWE-400 weakness, which encompasses unspecified denial of service conditions that can be triggered through resource consumption attacks. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by sending carefully constructed requests that cause the server to allocate memory in an uncontrolled manner, leading to gradual memory exhaustion and eventual service disruption. This type of attack aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which focuses on network denial of service attacks through resource exhaustion. The vulnerability affects the server's ability to maintain normal operations and can result in complete service unavailability, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where uptime is critical. The memory consumption pattern suggests that the application server lacks proper input validation and resource management controls when processing malformed requests. This weakness creates an opportunity for attackers to perform sustained resource exhaustion attacks that can degrade system performance or completely terminate service availability. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as it can affect the overall stability of the application environment and potentially compromise other services running on the same infrastructure. Organizations using affected versions of IBM WebSphere Liberty must implement immediate mitigation strategies to prevent exploitation, as the vulnerability can be leveraged remotely without authentication. The flaw demonstrates a fundamental lack of robust error handling and resource management within the application server's request processing pipeline, creating a persistent threat vector that requires comprehensive remediation. This vulnerability underscores the importance of proper input sanitization and memory management in enterprise application servers, particularly those handling high volumes of network traffic and user requests.
The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of incoming request parameters that leads to uncontrolled memory allocation within the server's processing logic. When a maliciously crafted request is received, the server's internal memory management system fails to properly handle the malformed data, resulting in continuous memory consumption that eventually exhausts available resources. This represents a classic example of a resource exhaustion attack pattern where the attacker leverages the application's normal processing behavior to consume system resources. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it can be exploited remotely without requiring any authentication credentials, making it accessible to any attacker with network access to the affected server. The memory consumption occurs during the request processing phase, where the application server attempts to parse and handle the crafted input, leading to progressive memory allocation that cannot be properly reclaimed. This type of vulnerability commonly affects application servers that do not implement adequate input validation and resource management controls, particularly when handling complex request structures or malformed data. The impact of this vulnerability can be severe as it directly affects the server's ability to function normally, potentially causing cascading failures in dependent systems and services. The exploitability factor is high due to the remote nature of the attack and the lack of authentication requirements, making it particularly dangerous in environments where the application server is exposed to untrusted networks.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation of this vulnerability through official IBM security patches or updates to affected Liberty server versions. The recommended approach includes upgrading to patched versions of IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty that contain fixes for the memory consumption issue. Additionally, implementing network-level protections such as rate limiting and request filtering can provide temporary mitigation while full patches are deployed. Security controls should focus on monitoring for unusual memory consumption patterns and implementing automated alerting for potential exploitation attempts. The mitigation strategy must include network segmentation to limit access to the affected servers and implement proper access controls to reduce the attack surface. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malicious requests before they reach the application server. The implementation of proper input validation and resource management controls within the application architecture can help prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in the future. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in the broader application environment. The vulnerability also highlights the need for comprehensive security testing during application development and deployment phases, particularly focusing on resource management and error handling mechanisms. Organizations should establish incident response procedures specifically tailored to address denial of service vulnerabilities that affect critical application infrastructure. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patches in non-production environments to ensure compatibility and prevent unintended side effects on existing applications.