Description

IBM App Connect Enterprise 13.0.1.0 through 13.0.8.1, and 12.0.1.0 through 12.0.12.28 and IBM Integration Bus for z/OS 10.1.0.0 through 10.1.0.7 could allow a local attacker to obtain sensitive information due to credentials being written to trace logs in cleartext.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "5.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-04T17:16:54.020Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-04T17:16:54.020Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A sensitive information disclosure vulnerability exists in IBM App Connect Enterprise and IBM Integration Bus for z/OS. The vulnerability stems from the improper handling of authentication credentials during trace logging operations, resulting in sensitive data being persisted in cleartext within trace files.\nThis issue affects IBM App Connect Enterprise versions 13.0.1.0 through 13.0.8.1, 12.0.1.0 through 12.0.12.28, and IBM Integration Bus for z/OS versions 10.1.0.0 through 10.1.0.7.\nThe risk implication is significant, as a local attacker with read access to the file system can harvest stored credentials to escalate privileges or gain unauthorized access to downstream systems integrated with the IBM middleware.\nExploitation requires local access to the server environment where the trace logs are generated. No network-based remote exploit is required, as the vulnerability relies on the local persistence of plaintext secrets.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the logging mechanism of IBM App Connect Enterprise and IBM Integration Bus for z/OS. During normal operation, when diagnostic tracing is enabled, the system captures internal transaction and processing flows to facilitate troubleshooting. In the identified versions, the tracing subsystem fails to adequately sanitize or redact sensitive authentication headers and security tokens before writing trace output to disk.\nRoot Cause Analysis: The internal logging functions fail to implement data masking logic for objects containing sensitive credential information. Consequently, when the system encounters authentication-related protocols or headers, these values are treated as standard diagnostic data and written verbatim to the configured trace log files on the local file system.\nAttack Flow: A local attacker, who possesses sufficient file system permissions to access the trace log directories, can read these files. By scanning the log output for patterns indicative of security headers, passwords, or API keys, the attacker can extract plaintext secrets. Once obtained, these credentials can be used to authenticate as the compromised service account or user entity in other parts of the enterprise architecture.\nVulnerable Components: The trace generation engine and log management modules are the primary components responsible for this exposure. Because tracing is often enabled during production troubleshooting, this vulnerability poses a high risk to environment security if logs are not properly secured.\nAuthentication/Privilege Requirements: The vulnerability assumes the attacker has a presence on the local system. No specific application-level authentication is required for the attacker to view the files; however, OS-level read permissions are necessary. The impact is essentially a bypass of secret management controls, allowing an attacker to move laterally through the infrastructure by leveraging the disclosed credentials.\nPost-Exploitation: After successful extraction, an attacker can utilize the recovered credentials to perform unauthorized actions, such as accessing backend databases, message queues, or external APIs protected by the compromised credentials. This facilitates data theft, unauthorized service manipulation, or further persistence within the network."
}