Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-78573

Ibm Contextforge 1.0.0 – 1.0.7

Published
10 September 2026
Modified
16 September 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0039 33th percentile
Risk Priority 71 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-78573 is a critical-severity Use of Default Credentials (CWE-1392) vulnerability in Ibm Contextforge. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Remote Services (T1021); ranked at the 33th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as AI Agent Protocols and Integrations; in the Protocol-Specific Risks risk domain.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-2 (Account Management) and CM-6 (Configuration Settings) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway 1.0.0 through 1.0.7 could allow a remote attacker to gain administrative access due to the use of default credentials.

CWE(s)
CWE-1392

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
AI Agent Protocols and Integrations
Risk Domain
Protocol-Specific Risks
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: mcp

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1021 Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078.001 Default Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of a default account as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-18905Same product: Ibm Contextforge
CVE-2026-77822Same product: Ibm Contextforge
CVE-2026-18489Same product: Ibm Contextforge
CVE-2026-18486Same product: Ibm Contextforge
CVE-2025-36221Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2026-7365Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2026-3144Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2024-39747Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2025-36222Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2026-26366Shared CWE-1392

Affected Assets

ibm
contextforge
1.0.0 — 1.0.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V13.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-2 Account Management partial match

Account management processes include assignment and control of initial account credentials, reducing the chance defaults remain active.

CM-6 Configuration Settings partial match

Secure configuration settings establish baselines that prohibit default credentials on system components.

IA-5 Authenticator Management partial match

Authenticator management requires verification of identity and secure distribution of initial authenticators, directly stopping default credentials from being left in place.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning partial match

Vulnerability scanning can discover default credentials after deployment but does not stop their introduction.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

Credential management processes directly require replacing or disabling default passwords and keys.

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

Authentication policies can enforce non-default credential strength but do not explicitly address initial deployment defaults.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Hardened baselines and configuration management explicitly prohibit default credentials on deployed systems.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.9 Configuration management partial match
prevents

The requirement to replace vendor default authentication information immediately after installation directly counters the use of default credentials that attackers commonly target.

References