CVE-2010-4623 in Tivoli Access Manager for e-business
Summary
by MITRE
WebSEAL in IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business 6.1.1 before 6.1.1-TIV-AWS-FP0001 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (worker thread consumption) via shift-reload actions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/07/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-4623 affects IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business version 6.1.1 before the 6.1.1-TIV-AWS-FP0001 fix, specifically within the WebSEAL component. This issue represents a denial of service vulnerability that can be exploited by remote authenticated users to consume worker threads, effectively degrading system performance and availability. The vulnerability manifests through shift-reload actions, which are common browser operations that force a complete page reload including all resources from the server. When these actions are performed against the vulnerable WebSEAL instance, they trigger an excessive consumption of worker threads that are responsible for processing incoming requests. This thread exhaustion ultimately leads to a denial of service condition where legitimate users cannot access the protected web applications due to the system's inability to handle new requests effectively.
The technical flaw in this vulnerability stems from improper handling of shift-reload requests within the WebSEAL component's thread management system. When an authenticated user performs a shift-reload action, the system fails to properly terminate or recycle the worker threads that were allocated to process the previous request cycle. This results in a gradual accumulation of thread resources that remain occupied and unresponsive, eventually exhausting the thread pool available for legitimate requests. The vulnerability specifically targets the worker thread consumption mechanism, which is a critical component of the WebSEAL's request processing architecture. This flaw aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption" as a common weakness that can lead to denial of service conditions when system resources are not properly managed or released.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations relying on IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business, particularly those with high-traffic web applications. The attack vector requires only authenticated access, which means that malicious insiders or compromised legitimate users could exploit this vulnerability to disrupt service availability. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption, as the thread consumption can cascade into performance degradation affecting multiple concurrent users and potentially causing system instability. Organizations may experience increased response times, reduced throughput, and ultimately complete service unavailability for authenticated users. The vulnerability's exploitation is relatively simple and does not require advanced technical skills, making it particularly dangerous in environments where access controls may be compromised.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2010-4623 involves applying the official IBM fix 6.1.1-TIV-AWS-FP0001 which addresses the thread management issue within the WebSEAL component. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual thread consumption patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and access control measures can help limit the potential impact by restricting which authenticated users can perform shift-reload actions against critical systems. Furthermore, implementing rate limiting on request processing and establishing automated thread cleanup mechanisms can provide additional protection layers. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper resource management in security infrastructure components and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers "Toggle System Execution Flag" in the context of denial of service attacks that manipulate system resources to achieve service disruption. Organizations should also consider implementing comprehensive security monitoring that can detect anomalous behavior patterns consistent with thread exhaustion attacks and maintain regular patching schedules to address similar vulnerabilities in other components of their security infrastructure.