VDB-341992 · CVE-2025-12985 · GCVE-0-2025-12985

IBM Licensing Operator default permission

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.1	$5k-$25k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in IBM Licensing Operator. This affects an unknown part. Executing a manipulation can lead to default permission. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-12985. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in IBM Licensing Operator (version unknown). This vulnerability affects an unknown function. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a default permission vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-276. During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

IBM Licensing Operator incorrectly assigns privileges to security critical files which could allow a local root escalation inside a container running the IBM Licensing Operator image.

This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-12985. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 01/21/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1222.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Vendor

Name

Licensing Operator

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.ibm.com/

CPE 2.3info

🔒

CPE 2.2info

🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.1

VulDB Base Score: 7.8
VulDB Temp Score: 7.8
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 8.4
CNA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Default permission
CWE: CWE-276 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Timelineinfo

01/20/2026 Advisory disclosed
01/20/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/21/2026 +1 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: ibm.com

Status: Not defined

CVE: CVE-2025-12985 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-12985
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-341992

Entryinfo

Created: 01/20/2026 21:10
Updated: 01/21/2026 14:23
Changes: 01/20/2026 21:10 (49), 01/21/2026 14:23 (11)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103