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CVE-2016-9748 IBM CVE debrief

CVE-2016-9748 is an IBM information-disclosure issue in error response handling. According to NVD, sensitive information in error messages from IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation and IBM Rational Requirements Composer could help an attacker prepare further attacks against the system. The CVE was published on 2017-02-08; the 2026-05-13 modified timestamp reflects later record maintenance, not the original issue date.

Vendor
IBM
Product
CVE-2016-9748
CVSS
MEDIUM 4.3
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-08
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-08
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Administrators, application owners, and security teams responsible for IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation 5.x/6.x and IBM Rational Requirements Composer 4.0.7 deployments.

Technical summary

NVD classifies the weakness as CWE-200 and rates it CVSS v3.0 4.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N). The affected CPEs listed by NVD include IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation 5.0, 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 6.0.0, 6.0.1, and 6.0.2, plus IBM Rational Requirements Composer 4.0.7. The core issue is disclosure of sensitive information through error response messages, which can increase attacker knowledge for subsequent activity.

Defensive priority

Medium

Recommended defensive actions

  • Inventory IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation and Rational Requirements Composer deployments to confirm whether any listed affected versions are in use.
  • Review and apply the IBM PSIRT remediation referenced in the vendor advisory for affected versions.
  • Reduce the amount of diagnostic detail returned in production error responses so sensitive information is not exposed to clients.
  • Validate patched or hardened systems by checking representative error paths to confirm they no longer reveal sensitive internal details.

Evidence notes

This debrief is based on the NVD CVE record and the IBM PSIRT reference cited there. NVD lists the weakness as CWE-200 and provides CVSS v3.0 4.3 with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N. NVD CPE data identifies the affected IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation versions 5.0, 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 6.0.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, and IBM Rational Requirements Composer 4.0.7. The publishedAt date is 2017-02-08; modifiedAt 2026-05-13 is a later record update.

Official resources

Publicly disclosed in the 2017-02-08 CVE/NVD record, with IBM PSIRT and SecurityFocus references cited by NVD.