Executive brief
IBM DataPower Gateway is an enterprise integration appliance that processes HTTP requests in XML-based service chains. A race condition in the gateway's request handling allows concurrent requests to corrupt the X-Client-IP header values, leading to IP spoofing and unintended disclosure of other clients' IP addresses. This could enable attackers to bypass IP-based access controls or expose user information in multi-tenant or high-concurrency environments.
Technical details
This is a race condition (CWE-362) in the XML Firewall component's handling of the built-in X-Client-IP request header. Under concurrent request processing, insufficient synchronization of request state allows X-Client-IP values to leak across different requests, enabling attackers to spoof IP addresses and disclose other clients' IP addresses. The vulnerability requires network access and authenticated connections (PR:L), though the high complexity (AC:H) suggests a specific concurrency scenario must occur. Patches are available in DataPower Gateway 11.0.0.2, 10.6.0.10, and 10.5.0.22. Workarounds include disabling persistent connections to XML Firewall services or not setting the X-Client-IP header on client requests.
Affected products
- IBM DataPower Gateway 10.5.0.0 through 10.5.0.21, 10.6.0.0 through 10.6.0.9, 11.0.0.0 through 11.0.0.1
Timeline
- 2026-08-06: disclosed: IBM Security Bulletin published
- 2026-08-06: patched: Fixes released in DataPower Gateway 11.0.0.2, 10.6.0.10, and 10.5.0.22