CVE-2011-0315 in WebSphere Application Server
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Servlet Engine / Web Container component in IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 6.1 before 6.1.0.35 and 7.0 before 7.0.0.15 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to the lack of an error page for an application.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-0315 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM WebSphere Application Server's Servlet Engine and Web Container components. This weakness affects versions 6.1 prior to 6.1.0.35 and 7.0 prior to 7.0.0.15, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on these application server implementations. The vulnerability stems from insufficient error handling mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize input during application error conditions, allowing malicious actors to exploit this gap in the server's security architecture.
The technical flaw manifests when the WebSphere Application Server encounters application errors and fails to render appropriate error pages that would normally filter or escape potentially malicious input. This occurs because the server's default error handling mechanism does not adequately sanitize user-supplied data that might be present in the request parameters or headers when an application error occurs. Attackers can leverage this by crafting malicious input that, when processed by the application and subsequently triggers an error condition, gets reflected back to the victim's browser without proper sanitization. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 as Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which specifically addresses the failure to properly escape or filter user input before rendering it in web contexts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with a foothold for more sophisticated attacks within the target environment. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can execute malicious scripts in the context of a victim's browser session, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it leverages the server's own error handling mechanisms rather than targeting specific application vulnerabilities, making it more difficult to detect and prevent. This weakness can be exploited to bypass security controls that might otherwise protect against XSS attacks, as the vulnerability exists at the infrastructure level rather than the application level.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant security patches released by IBM for WebSphere Application Server versions 6.1.0.35 and 7.0.0.15, which address the root cause of the error handling flaw. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to monitor and filter malicious traffic patterns. Security teams should also implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms at the application level, even when relying on server-level protections. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for Phishing and T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as attackers can use this vulnerability to deliver malicious payloads that execute in user browsers and potentially escalate privileges within the application environment. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar gaps in error handling and input validation across the entire application stack, as this type of vulnerability often indicates broader architectural weaknesses in web application security design principles.