CVE-2025-1837

watsonx Orchestrate could trust the wrong permission method

IBM · watsonx Orchestrate with watsonx Assistant Cartridge

First documented disclosure · Review checkpoint

Summary

IBM reports that an authenticated user could take unauthorized actions in the Orchestrate cartridge.

Severity and exploitation evidence

Medium · 5.4/10 · CVSS 3.1. Severity source.

Exploitation not established: The reviewed public disclosures do not report exploitation in the wild.

Exploitation evidence source

Technical severity is not a measure of observed attacks or of risk to your deployment. Attempts, demonstrations, and successful compromise retain the qualifications in the source.

How the weakness works

Server-side authorization put too much trust in the request method associated with an operation.

Conditions required

IBM’s description names an authenticated user. Its CVSS vector lists no attacker privileges and requires user interaction. The bulletin does not reconcile those conditions.

Potential impact

Unauthorized actions could affect confidentiality or integrity. IBM does not identify the operations.

Affected versions and configurations

IBM lists 4.8.4 through 4.8.5 and 5.0.0 through 5.4.2.

Fix and mitigation status

5.4.4.

Practical next steps

Upgrade to watsonx Orchestrate Cartridge 5.4.4. IBM lists no workaround.

Operating lesson

Authorize the operation against the acting identity regardless of the request method.

Evidence and limits

The displayed CVSS score is IBM’s. The prose and scoring vector differ on the role of authentication.

Sources