CVE-2025-33076: IBM Rhapsody Vulnerable to Stack-Based Buffer Overflow
IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody is facing a critical security vulnerability that could allow a local user to execute arbitrary code on the system. Read on to understand the details of CVE-2025-33076 and how to protect your systems.
Vulnerability Details
- CVE ID: CVE-2025-33076
- Description: IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody 9.0.2, 10.0, and 10.0.1 are vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow caused by improper bounds checking. A local user could overflow the buffer and execute arbitrary code on the system.
- CVSS Score: 8.8 HIGH
- CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CVSS Vector Explanation: This vulnerability has a high CVSS score because it can be exploited over the network (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L), requires only low privileges (PR:L), and no user interaction (UI:N). A successful exploit can lead to complete compromise of confidentiality (C:H), integrity (I:H), and availability (A:H).
- Exploit Requirements: A local user needs to trigger the vulnerable function with carefully crafted input to overflow the stack buffer.
- Affected Vendor: IBM
- Affected Product: Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody
- Affected Versions: 9.0.2, 10.0, and 10.0.1
- CWE: CWE-119 - Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
Timeline of Events
- 2025-07-23: Vulnerability disclosed and CVE assigned.
Exploitability & Real-World Risk
While the attack requires a local user, the potential for arbitrary code execution makes this a serious vulnerability. An attacker could leverage this flaw to escalate privileges or install malware on affected systems. Given the nature of software development environments, the impact could be widespread across multiple projects.
Recommendations
- Apply the patch provided by IBM as soon as possible. Check the IBM support page for the latest updates.
- Monitor systems for suspicious activity that may indicate an attempted exploit.
- Enforce the principle of least privilege to limit the impact of potential exploits.
Technical Insight
A stack-based buffer overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the allocated buffer size on the stack. In this case, IBM Rhapsody fails to properly validate the size of input data, allowing an attacker to overwrite adjacent memory regions. This can be used to overwrite return addresses, redirecting execution flow to attacker-controlled code.
Credit to Researcher(s)
Credit to IBM security researchers for discovering and reporting this vulnerability.
References
Tags
#IBM #Rhapsody #BufferOverflow #CVE-2025-33076 #CWE-119 #Security #Vulnerability #LocalPrivilegeEscalation
Summary: IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow (CVE-2025-33076) in versions 9.0.2, 10.0, and 10.0.1. A local user can exploit this flaw to execute arbitrary code on the system due to improper bounds checking.
CVE ID: CVE-2025-33076
Risk Analysis: Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to gain complete control of the affected system, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, and further lateral movement within the network.
Recommendation: Apply the patch provided by IBM to address the vulnerability. Monitor systems for suspicious activity. Implement least privilege principles to limit the potential impact of an exploit.
Timeline
- 2025-07-23: Vulnerability disclosed and CVE assigned (CVE-2025-33076).