CVE-2010-3891 in OmniFind
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in ESAdmin/security.do in the administrator interface in IBM OmniFind Enterprise Edition before 9.1 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that add an administrative user via a saveNewUser action.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/28/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2010-3891 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within IBM OmniFind Enterprise Edition's administrator interface. This security weakness exists in the ESAdmin/security.do endpoint and affects versions prior to 9.1, creating a significant risk for organizations relying on this enterprise search platform. The vulnerability specifically targets the administrative authentication mechanism, allowing malicious actors to exploit the system's trust in legitimate administrator sessions.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF protections in the administrator interface's user management functionality. When administrators perform actions such as adding new administrative users through the saveNewUser action, the system fails to validate the authenticity of the request origin. This validation gap enables attackers to craft malicious web pages or phishing sites that can automatically submit requests to the vulnerable endpoint, leveraging the administrator's existing authenticated session without their knowledge or consent.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it allows attackers to fundamentally alter the security posture of the affected system. By successfully hijacking administrator authentication, malicious actors can add new administrative users to the system, potentially creating persistent backdoors or establishing accounts with elevated privileges. This capability undermines the integrity of the entire administrative framework and can lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the enterprise search platform, as unauthorized users can gain access to sensitive administrative functions.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through the installation of IBM's security patches or upgrading to version 9.1 or later. The mitigation strategy should also include implementing additional security controls such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious CSRF patterns, along with regular security assessments of administrative interfaces. From a compliance standpoint, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses, and represents a critical finding under the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation tactics. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of implementing proper session management and request validation mechanisms in web applications, particularly those handling administrative functions. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and conducting regular security training to prevent social engineering attacks that could exploit this vulnerability.