CVE-2007-6407 in Tivoli Provisioning Manager Express
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager Express allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) "assess modification," (2) user-id, and other unspecified fields to the /tpmx URI; or (3) involving unspecified vectors related to "error processing."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/09/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-6407 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager Express, a system designed for automated provisioning and management of IT resources. This vulnerability exists in the web interface component of the application and allows remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of authenticated users. The flaw specifically affects the /tpmx URI endpoint where user input is not properly sanitized or validated before being rendered back to the browser, creating an environment where attackers can inject malicious code that executes in the victim's browser session.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability spans multiple input vectors within the application's web interface. The primary attack vectors include the "assess modification" parameter, user-id fields, and unspecified error processing components that all accept unvalidated user input. When these parameters are processed by the server-side application, the input undergoes insufficient sanitization, allowing attackers to embed malicious javascript code or html content. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a critical weakness in web applications where user-supplied data is directly included in web pages without proper validation or encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform a range of malicious activities within the targeted environment. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, modify content displayed to other users, or even escalate privileges within the provisioning manager. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects a provisioning management system that likely has elevated privileges and access to critical infrastructure resources. The attack can be executed remotely without requiring authentication to the application itself, making it accessible to any attacker who can reach the vulnerable web interface.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2007-6407 should focus on input validation and output encoding practices that align with established security frameworks. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization mechanisms that filter or escape all user-supplied data before processing or rendering. The principle of least privilege should be enforced by ensuring that the web application only accepts validated and sanitized input from trusted sources. Security patches from IBM should be applied immediately, as this vulnerability has been addressed in subsequent releases of the Tivoli Provisioning Manager. Additionally, web application firewalls and security monitoring solutions should be configured to detect and block suspicious input patterns that could indicate attempts to exploit this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under the technique of Web Application Attack Surface, specifically related to client-side code execution and session hijacking activities that can compromise the integrity and confidentiality of managed provisioning environments.