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 bypass security restrictions due to improper authorization.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.4",
  "pubDate": "2026-10-08T13:17:16.340Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-08T13:17:16.340Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical security vulnerability involving improper authorization has been identified in IBM DataPower Gateway, affecting multiple firmware branches including 10.5.0.x, 10.6.x, and 11.0.0.x.\nThis vulnerability allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to bypass established security restrictions, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive gateway functionality or protected resources.\nThe flaw stems from a deficiency in the authorization logic, where the gateway fails to properly validate the credentials or security context of an incoming request before granting access.\nThe impact is significant, as IBM DataPower Gateways often serve as the critical security enforcement point for enterprise APIs, microservices, and web traffic.\nSuccessful exploitation permits an attacker to perform unauthorized actions that would otherwise be blocked by the gateway's configured security policies.\nOrganizations deploying these versions are at risk of unauthorized data access, service disruption, or policy enforcement bypass, necessitating immediate review of security configurations and attention to vendor-supplied patches.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the authorization enforcement mechanism of the IBM DataPower Gateway firmware. It is characterized as an improper authorization flaw, where the internal security model fails to enforce mandatory access controls for specific requests.\nThe root cause is a deficiency in the validation logic during the authorization phase of the request handling pipeline. When processing specific traffic types, the gateway fails to correctly verify the authorization state of the request, leading to the processing of commands or data that should be restricted.\nAn attacker can exploit this by crafting a specific request that deviates from expected protocol patterns, causing the authorization engine to return an incorrect authorization result. Because the vulnerability allows for a bypass, the attacker does not require valid administrative or user credentials to reach restricted functions.\nThe attack flow involves the attacker identifying an endpoint or a specific configuration on the DataPower Gateway that relies on the flawed authorization logic. By manipulating the request metadata, headers, or parameters, the attacker bypasses the security policy enforcement point. Once the authorization check is circumvented, the gateway processes the request as if it were legitimate, granting the attacker the permissions associated with the bypassed policy.\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 impact post-exploitation depends on the configuration of the gateway, but typically includes unauthorized execution of administrative tasks, access to protected backend services, or bypass of perimeter security controls. Since the vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication, it significantly lowers the barrier for an attacker to compromise the integrity of the services protected by the gateway.\nThe vulnerability occurs within the core packet processing and request validation components of the firmware, meaning that any network-exposed interface utilizing these components is potentially vulnerable to such authorization bypass attacks."
}