Impact
IBM MQ could allow an authenticated attacker to cause a denial of service when improperly validating RFH2 message header fields in queued publish/subscribe operations. This flaw can trigger resource exhaustion or crash the messaging service, impacting application availability. The weakness corresponds to CWE-400, representing uncontrolled resource consumption.
Affected Systems
Affected deployments include IBM MQ Advanced container images and IBM MQ Operator. The vulnerability is present in operator releases v4.1.0, v4.0.5, and v3.2.30 and in container images 10.0.1.0‑r1 and 10.0.0.5‑r2. Updated images supplied in the IBM security bulletin replace the exposed components. If a cluster is still running older images or earlier operator versions, it remains at risk.
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score is 6.5, indicating moderate severity. EPSS data is not available and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Attackers must be authenticated and possess permissions to publish or subscribe to queues; an unprivileged user cannot exploit the issue. Detection is via abnormal service restarts or related performance degradation. The risk is therefore limited to environments where privileged users can send crafted messages, but the impact is significant due to potential service outages.
OpenCVE Enrichment