Description

IBM API Connect 10.0.8.0 through 10.0.8.12 and 12.1.0.0 through 12.1.1.2 could allow a remote attacker to perform unauthenticated brute-force attacks to obtain valid credentials due to improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.9",
  "pubDate": "2026-11-07T05:18:33.853Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-11-07T05:18:33.853Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability involves an improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts within IBM API Connect, classified as a brute-force susceptibility. The flaw resides in the authentication mechanism, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to repeatedly attempt credential validation without triggering account lockout or rate-limiting thresholds. Affected products include IBM API Connect versions 10.0.8.0 through 10.0.8.12 and 12.1.0.0 through 12.1.1.2. The risk implication is significant, as successful exploitation facilitates the unauthorized acquisition of valid administrative or user credentials. By automating high-frequency login requests, an attacker can bypass standard security controls, potentially leading to full account compromise. The vulnerability does not require prior authentication, making it accessible to any remote entity capable of reaching the authentication endpoint. Organizations utilizing the affected versions face a critical exposure to credential stuffing and brute-force campaigns, which may result in unauthorized access to sensitive API environments and configuration management interfaces.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability stems from the absence or improper configuration of rate-limiting and account-lockout mechanisms within the IBM API Connect authentication service. When a client performs a login request, the application fails to enforce a security policy that tracks failed attempts against a specific identifier or source IP address. Consequently, the application maintains a state where it continuously processes authentication headers and credentials regardless of the failure volume.\nThe attack flow begins with an unauthenticated attacker targeting the public-facing authentication interface of the IBM API Connect management or developer portal. The attacker leverages automated scripts, such as Burp Suite Intruder, Hydra, or custom Python scripts utilizing libraries like Requests, to submit a high volume of credential pairs sequentially or in parallel. Because the server does not enforce a temporal delay between attempts or terminate the session/connection after a threshold of failed requests, the brute-force process remains unhindered.\nThe root cause is a failure in the application's defensive posture to validate the rate of inbound authentication traffic at the architectural level. This vulnerability is not related to a memory corruption or injection flaw but rather a logic-based deficiency in the session management and security hardening of the auth component. The impact of this behavior is that an attacker can systematically cycle through dictionary lists, weak password sets, or previously leaked credential databases to achieve unauthorized access to the target system.\nThe lack of adaptive authentication controls or account lockout thresholds extends to all endpoints handling user authentication within the version range 10.0.8.0-10.0.8.12 and 12.1.0.0-12.1.1.2. Upon successful brute-force of a valid set of credentials, the attacker achieves the same privilege level as the compromised account, which could include administrative rights if the target is a system administrator. The post-exploitation impact includes the potential for unauthorized API key generation, modification of gateway configurations, access to backend service telemetry, and the exposure of sensitive API definitions or secret keys stored within the environment.\nThe vulnerability is remotely exploitable via standard network protocols (HTTPS) without any requirement for local system access or pre-existing authentication tokens. The persistence of the vulnerability depends on the configuration of the underlying web server and application middleware, both of which appear to lack sufficient protective wrappers to mitigate high-frequency request patterns."
}