Impact
IBM MQ may let an authenticated attacker send a specially crafted message that causes the system to perform excessive memory operations during character set conversion, leading to a denial of service. The flaw is a type conversion error (CWE-681) that can exhaust resources and halt normal messaging operations. The impact is that the affected MQ instance can stop processing messages, potentially disrupting applications that rely on the queue.
Affected Systems
IBM MQ Advanced and IBM MQ Operator are affected. Versions without the patch include MQ Advanced 10.0.1.0-r1, 10.0.0.5-r2, 9.4.0.26-r2, as well as the corresponding IBM MQ Operator releases v4.1.0 CD (which includes the patched 10.0.1.0-r1 image), v4.0.5 SC2 (which includes 10.0.0.5-r2), and v3.2.30 SC2 (which includes 9.4.0.26-r2).
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score of 5.3 places the vulnerability in the moderate range. While no EPSS score is available and it is not listed in KEV, the attack requires authenticated access to the MQ instance, which means any contributor or operator with sending privileges can exploit it. If the default trusted-user model is in place, a single malicious or compromised account can trigger the DoS. Given the moderate severity and potential service impact, organizations should treat this as a high-priority fix.
OpenCVE Enrichment