IBM ContextForge Translate is affected by cross-client credential context confusion
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-18489 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | ibm |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-04 17:16:56 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-08 14:17:08 UTC |
| Description | IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway - Translate utility <= 1.0.8 MCP Context Forge could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information from other sessions due to exposure of data elements to the wrong session. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.4 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS: 0.002570000 probability, percentile 0.172710000 (date 2026-09-07)
Problem Types: CWE-488 | CWE-488 CWE-488 Exposure of Data Element to Wrong Session
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 7.4 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 7.4 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | IBM | ContextForge MCP Gateway - Translate Utility | affected <= 1.0.8 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7286056 | [email protected] | www.ibm.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Additional Advisory Data
Solutions
CNA: IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now. The IBM ContextForge Translate service is intended **only for local, single-session development use**. It does not provide the session isolation required for production or multi-client deployments. Users must ensure the Translate service is not exposed in any production capacity. PR [#6388]( https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/pull/6388) https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/pull/6388%29 (merged 2026-08-24) updates the product documentation to make this restriction explicit, removing previous guidance that could have implied multi-tenant production suitability.
Workarounds
CNA: Do not use the IBM ContextForge Translate service in any production or multi-client environment. The service is designed exclusively for local development scenarios where only a single client session is expected. This applies regardless of whether `--enable-dynamic-env` is active. If the Translate service is currently running in a non-development environment: 1. Stop the Translate service and remove it from any production deployment immediately. 2. Rotate any credentials (API tokens, `Authorization` headers) that may have been mapped into the shared subprocess environment while multiple clients were connected. 3. Review audit logs for tool calls where the HTTP caller identity may not match the subprocess credential context.