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

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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

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