Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2025-36126 is a stored cross-site scripting flaw in IBM Cognos Administration. A privileged user could place JavaScript into the web interface, potentially changing what other trusted users see or exposing credentials during a session.
Executive priority
Treat as a scheduled priority for Cognos environments, not an emergency based on current evidence. Patch promptly because the flaw affects trusted administration sessions and could support credential exposure.
Technical view
IBM reports stored XSS, CWE-79, affecting Cognos Analytics 11.2.0, 12.0, 12.1.0 and Cognos Transformer 11.2.4, 12.0, 12.1.0. CVSS 3.1 is 6.4 with network access, low complexity, low privileges, changed scope, and low confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running the listed IBM Cognos Analytics or Transformer versions, especially where Cognos Administration is reachable by multiple privileged users. The source bundle does not prove exposure for other IBM products or versions.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The issue is still operationally relevant because stored XSS can persist in a trusted administration interface and affect later user sessions.
Researcher notes
Do not assume unauthenticated exploitation. The CVSS vector and IBM description indicate a privileged user is required. Evidence provided names a vendor advisory with patch tagging, but the bundle does not include specific fixed versions.
Mitigation direction
- Review IBM advisory 7272628 for the supported patch or upgrade path.
- Patch affected Cognos Analytics and Transformer deployments per IBM guidance.
- Restrict Cognos Administration access to necessary privileged users only.
- Review administrative content for unexpected scripts or suspicious stored changes.
- Monitor privileged Cognos sessions and credential-related anomalies.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cognos Analytics and Transformer versions across production and non-production systems.
- Confirm whether any listed affected versions are deployed.
- Verify IBM advisory patches or upgrades are installed after maintenance.
- Check Cognos Administration for unexpected stored content or recent unauthorized changes.
- Review access controls for Cognos Administration privileged roles.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-36126 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N3.12.7ibmVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7272628CVE reference, ibm · vendor-advisory, patch
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.