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IBM API Connect Critical Flaw Allows Remote Authentication Bypass
Thursday, January 1, 2026
What
A critical vulnerability in IBM API Connect versions allows remote attackers to circumvent authentication enforcement, leading to unauthorized access to exposed applications. This is significant as it breaks a core architectural assumption that traffic passing through an API gateway has established trust, exposing downstream services to unearned trust.
Where
IBM API Connect platform, affecting versions 10.0.8.0 through 10.0.8.5 and 10.0.11.0, across various deployment environments.
When
Discovered during internal testing by IBM; interim fixes have been provided.
Key Factors
- •The vulnerability, CVE-2025-13915, is classified as CWE-305, indicating an authentication bypass by primary weakness rather than misconfiguration or stolen credentials.
- •This flaw represents a breakdown of a core architectural assumption where API gateway trust fails, allowing inherited trust to become unearned trust for downstream services.
- •Interim fixes involve image overrides which, if not properly removed during future upgrades, can create a "shadow state" and long-term governance hazards, elevating remediation risk.
Takeaways
- →Customers must immediately apply the provided interim fixes or disable self-service sign-up on their Developer Portal to minimize exposure.
- →Organizations should re-evaluate API governance to include up-to-date inventories, dependency mapping, and continuous monitoring to identify and address implicit trust assumptions.
- →Enterprises should analyze what would happen if such a flaw were exploited for weeks, identifying which services implicitly trust gateways and how abnormal behavior would be detected.
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