PHP2Shell : See if you’re affected with a free external attack surface scan. Click Here > 

Back
New CVE Detected

CVE-2026-18137 – ESQL Injection leading to Remote Code Execution – IBM Financial Transaction Manager

Be the first to know when new zero-days emerge:

Subscribe to Email Alerts
Subscribe to RSS Feed

Summary

CVE-2026-18137 is a SQL/ESQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) in IBM Financial Transaction Manager (FTM) for RedHat OpenShift. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can execute arbitrary ESQL commands due to improper neutralization of special elements in ESQL statements, potentially resulting in full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. The flaw carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (High) and was disclosed by IBM on 21–22 September 2026 as part of a broader security bulletin covering FTM.

Technical details

  • Root cause: FTM for RedHat OpenShift fails to properly neutralize special elements used in ESQL (Extended SQL) commands, allowing attacker-supplied input to be interpreted as executable ESQL code.
  • Trigger conditions: An attacker sends crafted input to a network-exposed FTM interface/endpoint that processes ESQL queries; no prior authentication or user interaction is required.
  • Attack vector: Network (AV:N), with High attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N).
  • Impact: Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary ESQL commands, which can lead to full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) of financial transaction data and processing logic managed by FTM.

Affected software

  • IBM Financial Transaction Manager (FTM) for RedHat OpenShift, versions 4.0.6.0 through 4.0.10.0 (inclusive of Interim Fix 064)

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 8.1 (High)
  • Vector String: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade IBM Financial Transaction Manager (FTM) for RedHat OpenShift to version 4.0.11.0 or later, which remediates this vulnerability.
  • If immediate patching is not possible: IBM has not published an interim workaround for this specific issue; organizations should restrict network access to FTM management and processing interfaces to trusted hosts/networks only, and monitor for anomalous ESQL/database query activity until the patch can be applied.
  • Review IBM’s security bulletin for this release, as it addresses this vulnerability alongside multiple other issues affecting the same FTM versions — a full upgrade to 4.0.11.0 is recommended to close all associated gaps.

References

Are you exposed?

Get a free report of your organization’s exposure to this CVE and threat

  • Mapping of all Assets with this Technology
  • Identification of potentially exposed assets to this CVE
  • Confirmation of verified exploitable assets
Get Exposure Report

How IONIX’s External Exposure Management Platform Detects and Validates
Zero-Days to Shrink MTTR

1

Map your entire attack surface (continously)

IONIX uses multi-factor discovery methods, including DNS analysis, certificate mapping, metadata inspection, and more, to automatically map every internet-facing asset across your environment. This includes cloud instances, third-party platforms, shadow IT, and even forgotten infrastructure that traditional tools miss.

2

Monitor for new CVEs

Dozens of threat intel feeds using agentic technology are continuously analyzed to detect the appearance of proof-of-concept code, exploit kits, and indicators of active targeting. IONIX goes further by applying AI to proactively evaluate whether emerging vulnerabilities are likely to be exploited, even before PoCs go public.

3

Identify Potential External Exposures

Not all CVEs matter. IONIX filters vulnerabilities by asking attacker-centric questions: Can it be reached from the internet? Does it require authentication? Is it being exploited in the wild? This dramatically reduces noise and focuses teams on threats that can actually be weaponized.

4

Create Safe, Scalable Exploit Validations

IONIX transforms real-world PoCs into safe, non-intrusive test payloads that can be run in production environments without disruption. These simulations are precisely targeted to the systems that are vulnerable, ensuring rapid validation without unnecessary load.

5

Execute Exploit Validations

By combining context about software stack, versioning, exposure status, and reachability, IONIX ensures that only the right payloads are executed against the right assets, maximizing efficiency and minimizing risk.

6

Drive Fast and Actionable Remediation

Results are routed through integrations with ticketing, SOAR, and SIEM tools. Issues are written in plain language, bundled into remediation clusters, and prioritized based on asset criticality, exploitability, and blast radius. This shortens mean time to remediation (MTTR) and empowers teams to act with confidence.

Are you exposed?

Get a free report of your organization’s exposure to this CVE and threat

  • Mapping of all Assets with this Technology
  • Identification of potentially exposed assets to this CVE
  • Confirmation of verified exploitable assets
Get Exposure Report
Close

Subscribe to Threat Center RSS

Copy/paste the link below into your preferred RSS reader or follow these instructions to subscribe to Slack alerts.

Open RSS feedSlack setup instructions

Close

Get Real-Time CVE Alerts to Your Email

Be the first to know when new zero-days emerge