CVE-2012-0195 in Maximo Asset Management
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Start Center Layout and Configuration component in IBM Maximo Asset Management and Asset Management Essentials 6.2, 7.1, and 7.5; IBM Tivoli Asset Management for IT 6.2, 7.1, and 7.2; IBM Tivoli Service Request Manager 7.1 and 7.2; IBM Maximo Service Desk 6.2; and IBM Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database (CCMDB) 6.2, 7.1, and 7.2 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the display name.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/30/2021
The CVE-2012-0195 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM's enterprise asset management suite, specifically targeting the Start Center Layout and Configuration component across multiple product versions. This vulnerability affects a broad range of IBM products including Maximo Asset Management, Tivoli Asset Management for IT, Tivoli Service Request Manager, Maximo Service Desk, and Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database. The flaw manifests when the system fails to properly sanitize user input in the display name field, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content into the application's user interface. The vulnerability's impact extends across multiple IBM product lines, indicating a widespread architectural weakness that affects core administrative and configuration functionalities.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of the display name parameter within the Start Center component, which serves as a critical interface for users to configure and view system layouts. When users interact with the affected system, the unsanitized input is rendered directly into the web page without proper HTML escaping or sanitization mechanisms. This allows attackers to craft malicious payloads that execute within the context of other users' browsers, potentially enabling session hijacking, data theft, or unauthorized administrative actions. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and represents a classic example of insufficient input validation and output encoding in web user interfaces.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability poses significant risks to enterprise environments where IBM Maximo and related products are deployed. Attackers can leverage this flaw to execute malicious scripts against authenticated users, potentially compromising sensitive asset management data, service request information, and configuration details. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that these applications typically operate within privileged network environments where users have elevated access rights to critical business assets. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple versions and product lines suggests that organizations running these systems face prolonged exposure without proper patching or mitigation strategies, making it a high-priority security concern for enterprise security teams managing IT asset and service management infrastructure.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding controls within the affected components, along with comprehensive patching of all supported versions. Security measures should include web application firewall rules to filter suspicious input patterns, regular security assessments of user interface components, and monitoring for anomalous user behavior patterns. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of implementing defense-in-depth strategies and proper input sanitization across all user-facing web interfaces, particularly in enterprise management systems where the compromise of a single component can affect broader organizational security postures. This flaw also underscores the necessity of maintaining current security patches and conducting regular vulnerability assessments across enterprise software ecosystems to prevent exploitation of known weaknesses.