CVE-2026-92559 in App Connect Enterprise
Summary
by MITRE • 10/21/2026
IBM App Connect Enterprise 13.0.1.0 through 13.0.8.2 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information due to binding to an unrestricted IP address.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2026
The vulnerability identified in IBM App Connect Enterprise versions 13.0.1.0 through 13.0.8.2 stems from a critical misconfiguration in the network interface binding settings of the application server software. Specifically, the service is configured to bind to an unrestricted IP address, commonly represented as zero dot zero zero dot zero (0.0.0.0) for IPv4 or all zeros (::) for IPv6. This configuration instructs the operating system's networking stack to listen on every available network interface and port associated with the host machine rather than restricting access to a specific local loopback address such as 127.0.0.1 or localhost. While binding to an unrestricted IP is often necessary for services that must accept connections from external clients, it becomes a severe security flaw when applied to administrative interfaces, internal management endpoints, or components that are not intended to be exposed directly to untrusted networks without additional authentication and encryption layers at the network perimeter.
From a technical perspective, this misconfiguration allows any host on the same local area network segment, as well as potentially remote hosts if firewall rules permit traffic to those ports, to establish direct TCP connections to the IBM App Connect Enterprise services. The primary risk is information disclosure, where an attacker can interact with exposed endpoints that may reveal sensitive system details, internal architecture maps, configuration data, or session tokens without proper authentication controls being enforced at the application layer for all entry points. This exposure effectively bypasses network-level access control lists because the service itself accepts connections from any source IP address, relying entirely on perimeter defenses to block unauthorized traffic rather than implementing defense-in-depth principles by restricting binding addresses locally.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant in environments where IBM App Connect Enterprise processes sensitive integration flows or handles confidential data between disparate systems. An attacker with network access could perform reconnaissance activities such as service fingerprinting, version detection, and enumeration of available APIs or administrative functions. If the exposed endpoints lack robust authentication mechanisms, the attacker may gain unauthorized access to internal messaging queues, view message payloads in transit, or manipulate integration logic by sending malicious messages through the open interfaces. This can lead to data leakage, integrity violations where critical business processes are altered, and potentially serve as an initial foothold for more advanced attacks such as lateral movement within the corporate network if other services on the same host are compromised using credentials discovered via this information leak.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) ID 284, which describes Improper Access Control, specifically relating to unrestricted access to sensitive resources due to misconfigured binding addresses. It also maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1071, Application Layer Protocol, as the attacker utilizes standard network protocols to communicate with the vulnerable service for discovery and exploitation purposes. The failure to restrict listening interfaces represents a deviation from secure configuration guidelines that mandate limiting exposure of administrative and management functions to only trusted networks or loopback addresses unless explicitly required by business logic.
To mitigate this vulnerability, administrators must immediately audit the network binding configurations across all instances of IBM App Connect Enterprise within the affected version range. The primary remediation step involves modifying the server startup parameters or configuration files to bind specific internal services and administrative consoles to 127.0.0.1 (localhost) rather than 0.0.0.0, ensuring that these sensitive components are only accessible from the local machine where they reside. For any service that legitimately requires external access, organizations should implement strict firewall rules or network segmentation policies to restrict source IP addresses to known and trusted ranges. Additionally, deploying reverse proxies with authentication capabilities in front of exposed services can provide an additional layer of security by enforcing identity verification before traffic reaches the application server. Regular vulnerability scanning and configuration audits are recommended to ensure that such misconfigurations do not recur during future deployments or updates.