CVE-2012-3309 in InfoSphere Guardium
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the account-creation panel in IBM InfoSphere Guardium 8.2 and earlier, when the CSRF filtering (aka csrf_status) feature is disabled, allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that create administrative accounts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/29/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-3309 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within IBM InfoSphere Guardium versions 8.2 and earlier. This weakness specifically targets the account creation panel functionality and becomes exploitable when the CSRF filtering mechanism, designated as csrf_status, is deliberately disabled. The vulnerability resides in the web application's failure to properly validate and authenticate administrative account creation requests, creating a pathway for malicious actors to manipulate the system's authentication flow.
The technical exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability occurs when an attacker crafts a malicious web page or link that, when visited by an authenticated administrator, automatically submits a request to create a new administrative account within the Guardium system. This attack vector operates through the fundamental principle that web browsers automatically include authentication cookies with requests to the same domain, allowing an attacker to perform actions on behalf of the authenticated user without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it targets the administrative account creation functionality, which is a critical system operation that could allow attackers to establish persistent access to the Guardium environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass complete system compromise. An attacker who successfully exploits this CSRF flaw could create administrative accounts with full system privileges, effectively gaining control over the entire InfoSphere Guardium deployment. This would enable unauthorized access to sensitive data protection mechanisms, potential modification of security policies, and access to critical system configurations. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that it requires no special privileges or credentials to exploit, as the attacker only needs to convince an administrator to visit a malicious page while authenticated to the Guardium system. The attack can be executed through various means including phishing emails, compromised websites, or social engineering tactics that lead administrators to inadvertently trigger the malicious request.
Organizations using IBM InfoSphere Guardium versions 8.2 and earlier face significant risk exposure from this vulnerability, as it directly undermines the integrity of the system's administrative access controls. The flaw aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities in web applications, and demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper request validation mechanisms. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and persistence, as attackers can establish new administrative accounts to maintain access to the compromised system. The vulnerability also reflects broader security concerns related to web application security and the necessity of implementing robust CSRF protection mechanisms. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including enabling CSRF filtering, implementing proper request validation, and conducting security awareness training to prevent administrators from inadvertently triggering such attacks. The vulnerability underscores the critical need for maintaining up-to-date security controls and proper configuration management to prevent unauthorized administrative access to critical security infrastructure.