CVE-2012-0917 in IT Operations Analyzer
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer 02-01, 02-51 through 02-51-01, and 02-53 through 02-53-02 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2017
The CVE-2012-0917 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered in Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer versions ranging from 02-01 through 02-51-01 and 02-53 through 02-53-02. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is a fundamental web application security weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer is a comprehensive monitoring solution designed to provide operational intelligence and analytics for enterprise IT environments, making this vulnerability particularly concerning given its potential impact on critical infrastructure monitoring systems.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies in the application's insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within its web interface components. Attackers can exploit this weakness through unspecified vectors that likely involve manipulation of user-supplied parameters or data inputs processed by the application's web server. The vulnerability enables remote attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content that executes in the context of other users' browsers when they access affected pages. This typically occurs when the application fails to properly sanitize user input before rendering it in web responses, creating an environment where malicious code can be executed without user interaction or authentication.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, potentially allowing attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive information, redirect users to malicious sites, or even escalate privileges within the monitoring environment. Given that Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer is used for critical infrastructure monitoring, an attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could gain unauthorized access to sensitive operational data, potentially compromising the entire monitoring infrastructure. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it affects multiple versions of the software, indicating a widespread issue that could impact numerous enterprise environments simultaneously. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for Initial Access through Spearphishing Attachment and T1059.001 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as attackers could leverage the XSS flaw to execute malicious payloads.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement multiple layers of mitigation strategies including input validation and output encoding improvements, web application firewalls, and comprehensive security patching. The most effective immediate solution involves applying the vendor-provided security patches and updates to bring the system to a supported version that addresses the XSS vulnerability. Additionally, implementing content security policies, disabling unnecessary web features, and conducting thorough security assessments of all user inputs can help reduce the risk of exploitation. Regular security monitoring and vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify any similar issues in related systems, as this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices in enterprise monitoring solutions. The incident also underscores the need for proper security training for developers working on enterprise monitoring systems to prevent similar issues in future releases.