CVE-2011-1030 in Lotus Connections
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Wikis component in IBM Lotus Connections 3.0 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to the "Confirm New Page scene."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/09/2018
The CVE-2011-1030 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM Lotus Connections 3.0 Wikis component that exposes organizations to significant web application security risks. This vulnerability specifically affects the "Confirm New Page scene" functionality, which serves as a user interface element for confirming new wiki page creations. The flaw enables remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of authenticated users' browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, data theft, or unauthorized actions within the Lotus Connections environment.
The technical implementation of this XSS vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the Wikis component's confirmation mechanism. When users navigate to the "Confirm New Page scene," the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input parameters that are subsequently rendered in the web response without adequate HTML escaping or context-appropriate encoding. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code, HTML tags, or other harmful content that executes in the victim's browser when the page is rendered. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between the user and the web application, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Lotus Connections serves as a collaboration platform.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform sophisticated attacks against authenticated users within the Lotus Connections environment. An attacker could craft malicious pages that steal session cookies, redirect users to phishing sites, or manipulate wiki content to spread malware throughout the organization. The vulnerability affects the entire user base that accesses the Wikis component, making it a high-priority security concern for organizations relying on IBM Lotus Connections for collaborative workspaces. Given that the vulnerability exists in the confirmation process, it could be exploited during routine wiki page creation activities, making detection and prevention particularly challenging.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation controls, output encoding mechanisms, and security patches provided by IBM to address this vulnerability. The remediation approach should align with established security frameworks such as CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, and should incorporate defensive programming practices recommended by the OWASP Top Ten. Additionally, implementing content security policies and regular security assessments of the Lotus Connections environment can help prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other components. Organizations should also consider network-level protections and user education to reduce the risk of exploitation, while ensuring that all web applications undergo thorough security testing before deployment to prevent similar cross-site scripting issues in future releases.
This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of secure input handling in collaborative web applications where user-generated content is processed and displayed. The attack surface expands when considering that Lotus Connections serves as a platform for sharing sensitive business information, making the exploitation of such vulnerabilities particularly damaging to organizational security posture. Security teams should prioritize patch management for this specific vulnerability while also conducting comprehensive audits of other web applications within their environment to identify similar XSS weaknesses that could be exploited through different attack vectors. The incident underscores the necessity of maintaining up-to-date security measures and the importance of implementing defense-in-depth strategies that protect against both known and emerging threats in enterprise collaboration platforms.