CVE-2025-36258
Published: 25 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2025-36258 is a high-severity Plaintext Storage of a Password (CWE-256) vulnerability in Ibm Infosphere Information Server. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Credentials In Files (T1552.001); ranked at the 0.5th 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 SC-28 (Protection of Information at Rest).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-36258 is a vulnerability in IBM InfoSphere Information Server versions 11.7.0.0 through 11.7.1.6, where the product stores user credentials and other sensitive information in plain text. This insecure storage allows the data to be read by a local user, as classified under CWE-256 (Plain-text Storage of a Password). The issue received a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N) and was published on 2026-03-25.
A local attacker requires only local access to the system with no privileges, low attack complexity, and no user interaction to exploit this vulnerability. Successful exploitation enables reading of plaintext credentials and sensitive information, resulting in high-impact confidentiality loss due to the changed scope from the attack surface.
IBM's security advisory at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7266489 provides details on mitigation, including recommended patches and configuration changes to address the plain-text storage issue.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-209023
Vulnerability details
IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7.0.0 through 11.7.1.6 product stores user credentials and other sensitive information in plain text which can be read by a local user.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Plaintext credential storage (CWE-256) directly enables local reading of credentials from files/storage.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires cryptographic mechanisms or physical safeguards to protect confidentiality of sensitive information like credentials stored at rest, preventing plain-text readability by local users.
Mandates protection of authenticators such as user credentials commensurate with information sensitivity, explicitly addressing insecure plain-text storage.
Enforces logical access controls to system resources storing sensitive information, mitigating unauthorized local user access to plain-text credentials.