CVE-2012-3327 in SmartCloud Control Desk
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM Maximo Asset Management 6.2 through 7.5, Maximo Asset Management Essentials 6.2 through 7.5, Tivoli Asset Management for IT 6.2 through 7.2, Tivoli Service Request Manager 7.1 and 7.2, Maximo Service Desk 6.2, Change and Configuration Management Database (CCMDB) 7.1 and 7.2, and SmartCloud Control Desk 7.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to a login action.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/09/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2012-3327 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting multiple IBM Maximo products including Asset Management, Service Request Manager, and related enterprise solutions. This vulnerability resides in the authentication and login processing mechanisms of these systems, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited during user authentication attempts. The flaw allows remote attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML content through login action vectors, potentially compromising user sessions and system integrity. The affected versions span across several major releases from 6.2 through 7.5, indicating this was a widespread issue affecting IBM's enterprise asset management portfolio.
Technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when users interact with the login functionality of affected IBM Maximo applications, where input validation is insufficient to prevent malicious script injection. The vulnerability specifically targets the login action processing, which means that any user attempting to authenticate could potentially be exposed to malicious code execution. Attackers can craft specially formatted input that gets processed by the application without proper sanitization, leading to script execution in the context of the victim's browser session. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws, where applications fail to properly validate or escape user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session hijacking, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities including credential theft, unauthorized system access, and potential data manipulation within the affected enterprise environments. When users authenticate to these systems, their browsers execute the injected scripts, which could redirect them to malicious sites, steal session cookies, or even execute commands on behalf of the authenticated user. The widespread nature of affected products means that organizations using these platforms across multiple business units could face significant security exposure, particularly in environments where these systems manage critical asset information or service requests. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers spearphishing with social engineering, as attackers can leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent access through compromised login sessions.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding for all login and authentication-related parameters, ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before being processed or displayed. The recommended approach involves implementing strict validation of all input fields during authentication, particularly those that may be processed through the login action handler. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing content security policies that prevent execution of unauthorized scripts and ensure proper encoding of all dynamic content generated by the applications. Patch management procedures should be prioritized to ensure all affected IBM Maximo versions receive the appropriate security updates, while also considering network segmentation and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of validating all user inputs at multiple layers of application processing, particularly in authentication mechanisms where trust is established and session tokens are issued.