CVE-2026-82335 in Guardium Data Protection
Summary
by MITRE • 10/08/2026
IBM Guardium Data Protection 12.0, 12.1, 12.2 is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer overflow in the MongoDB protocol parser. A remote attacker could send a specially crafted MongoDB SCRAM username containing an excessive length and cause memory corruption, potentially resulting in denial of service or arbitrary code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/08/2026
IBM Guardium Data Protection versions 12.0 through 12.2 contain a critical heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability within the component responsible for parsing the MongoDB protocol. This flaw specifically affects the handling of SCRAM authentication mechanisms, which are used to verify user credentials when establishing connections to protected databases. The root cause lies in insufficient validation of input length during the processing of the username field in the SCRAM exchange sequence. When a remote attacker submits a specially crafted request containing an excessively long string for the username parameter, the application fails to properly check buffer boundaries before copying data into memory. This lack of bounds checking results in writing beyond the allocated heap space, leading to immediate memory corruption that can destabilize the underlying process or corrupt adjacent memory structures essential for normal operation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its remote exploitability and potential consequences. An unauthenticated attacker located on a reachable network segment can trigger this flaw by sending maliciously formatted packets directly to the MongoDB interface managed by IBM Guardium Data Protection. The immediate result of triggering the heap overflow is typically a denial of service, where the affected process crashes or becomes unresponsive, disrupting data protection monitoring and auditing capabilities for critical database assets. However, given that modern memory allocators often provide predictable layouts in certain conditions, an attacker with sufficient expertise may leverage this memory corruption to execute arbitrary code on the host system. Achieving remote code execution would allow the adversary to gain full control over the Guardium appliance or server, potentially leading to further lateral movement within the network and compromise of sensitive data stored in protected databases.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-120, which denotes buffer copy without checking size limits, specifically manifesting as a heap-based overflow rather than stack-based corruption. This type of flaw is frequently exploited by automated malware families that scan for vulnerable services to establish persistent access or launch distributed denial-of-service attacks. In the context of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability facilitates initial access and potentially privilege escalation if code execution is achieved. The attack vector falls under T1078, Valid Accounts, as it exploits authentication mechanisms, although it does not require valid credentials to trigger initially due to the nature of the protocol parsing flaw occurring during the handshake phase before full session establishment in some configurations.
Mitigation strategies must address both immediate remediation and long-term security posture improvements. The primary defense is to apply the latest software updates provided by IBM for IBM Guardium Data Protection, which include patches that enforce strict length validation on all incoming MongoDB protocol fields. Until patching can be performed, network-level controls should be implemented to restrict access to the affected service ports exclusively from trusted management networks or specific application servers known to send legitimate traffic. Additionally, deploying intrusion prevention systems with signatures capable of detecting anomalous packet sizes in database protocols can provide a layer of defense against exploitation attempts. Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing focused on external-facing services are recommended to identify similar misconfigurations across the infrastructure.