Description

IBM DataPower Gateway 10.5.0.0 through 10.5.0.22, 10.6.1 through 10.6.6, 10.6.0.0 through 10.6.0.10, 11.0.0.0 through 11.0.0.2 could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service due to improper validation of the length field during memory reallocation.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-10-08T13:17:15.797Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-08T13:17:15.797Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability involves a memory management flaw within IBM DataPower Gateway, categorized as a denial-of-service (DoS) condition.\nThe issue arises from improper validation of the length field during memory reallocation processes, which can be exploited by a remote attacker to induce system instability or a service crash.\nAffected versions include IBM DataPower Gateway 10.5.0.0 through 10.5.0.22, 10.6.1 through 10.6.6, 10.6.0.0 through 10.6.0.10, and 11.0.0.0 through 11.0.0.2.\nThe primary risk implication is the potential for service unavailability, as a successful exploit interrupts the gateway's ability to process traffic, effectively disrupting business-critical communication channels.\nThe attack is remotely exploitable, requiring no prior authentication or elevated privileges, provided the attacker can reach the vulnerable service interface.\nThe vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input sanitization in memory management routines to prevent heap-related corruption or invalid memory state transitions.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability is an improper validation mechanism applied to the length field parameter during a memory reallocation operation within the IBM DataPower Gateway architecture.\nIn systems where dynamic memory management is utilized, reallocation functions typically require a size argument to determine the allocation buffer. When the input length field is not strictly sanitized or validated against expected bounds, an attacker can supply an malicious or unexpected value that triggers an error in the memory management logic.\nExploitation occurs when an attacker crafts a specific payload designed to trigger this reallocation fault. By sending requests that force the gateway to process inputs that interact with the vulnerable memory management routine, the attacker causes the system to experience an invalid memory state.\nBecause the length validation fails, the heap manager may attempt to allocate or reallocate memory based on inaccurate metadata. This leads to an unhandled exception, kernel panic, or forced process termination of the affected service component.\nThe attack flow follows a direct path: the attacker identifies an exposed endpoint that utilizes the vulnerable memory management function, sends a specially crafted network packet or request containing an anomalous length parameter, and relies on the faulty validation logic to trigger the crash.\nThe impact of this exploit is a state of Denial of Service. Since the gateway acts as a critical intermediary for secure traffic, the sudden cessation of services results in a significant operational outage. The system typically requires a restart to recover from the crash, which may lead to prolonged service unavailability during the incident response phase.\nThe vulnerability affects multiple branches of the product, including versions 10.5.x, 10.6.x, and 11.0.x. The lack of authentication or privilege requirements makes this a high-risk remote attack vector, as any entity capable of sending traffic to the target interface can potentially initiate the crash sequence.\nPost-exploitation, the attacker does not necessarily gain code execution; the vulnerability is confined to service disruption. However, the resulting instability confirms that the input validation layer is insufficiently robust to handle malicious length specifications, which is a critical concern for secure memory handling within the product's runtime environment."
}