CVE-2025-14115

High

Published: 20 January 2026

Published

20 January 2026

Modified

15 April 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 8.4 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0001 1.6th percentile

Risk Priority 17 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-14115 is a high-severity Use of Hard-coded Credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in Ibm (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Credentials In Files (T1552.001); ranked at the 1.6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 IA-5 (Authenticator Management) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Credentials In Files (T1552.001) and 1 other technique. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Requires identification, reporting, and correction of flaws like hard-coded credentials, directly enabling application of IBM's recommended interim fixes or upgrades to eliminate the vulnerability.

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

prevent

Mandates management of authenticators including changing defaults, protecting from disclosure, and ensuring sufficient strength, directly countering the use of unmanageable hard-coded credentials for authentication and encryption.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning partial match

detect

Enables scanning to identify vulnerabilities such as CVE-2025-14115 involving hard-coded credentials in the affected IBM Sterling Connect:Direct versions.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1552.001 Credentials In Files Credential Access

Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials.

attack.mitre.org →

T1078.003 Local Accounts Stealth

Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of a local account as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Hard-coded credentials (CWE-798) directly enable local discovery of unsecured creds in files/binaries (T1552.001) and subsequent use of those valid local accounts for auth bypass (T1078.003).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

NVD Description

IBM Sterling Connect:Direct for UNIX Container 6.3.0.0 through 6.3.0.6 Interim Fix 016, and 6.4.0.0 through 6.4.0.3 Interim Fix 019 IBM® Sterling Connect:Direct for UNIX contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key, which it uses for its own…

inbound authentication, outbound communication to external components, or encryption of internal data.

Deeper analysisAI

IBM Sterling Connect:Direct for UNIX Container versions 6.3.0.0 through 6.3.0.6 Interim Fix 016, and 6.4.0.0 through 6.4.0.3 Interim Fix 019 are affected by CVE-2025-14115. The vulnerability stems from hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key, which the software uses for inbound authentication, outbound communication to external components, or encryption of internal data. Published on 2026-01-20, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and maps to CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials).

Local attackers can exploit this issue with low complexity and no privileges, as it requires only local access (AV:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Exploitation enables high-impact compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, allowing attackers to bypass authentication, intercept or alter communications, or decrypt internal data protected by the hard-coded credentials.

The IBM security bulletin at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7257143 details the flaw and advises applying the latest interim fixes beyond IF016 for 6.3 or IF019 for 6.4, or upgrading to patched releases to eliminate the hard-coded credentials and mitigate the risk.