CVE-2012-5763 in Netezza
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WebAdmin application 6.0.5, 6.0.8, and 7.0 before P2 in IBM Netezza allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2019
The CVE-2012-5763 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within IBM Netezza's WebAdmin application across multiple versions including 6.0.5, 6.0.8, and 7.0 before patch level P2. This vulnerability resides in the authentication mechanism of the web-based administrative interface, creating a significant security risk for organizations utilizing IBM Netezza data warehousing solutions. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate authenticated sessions without requiring knowledge of valid credentials, effectively bypassing the application's security controls through malicious web requests.
The technical nature of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-forgery token validation within the WebAdmin application's request processing. When users authenticate to the application, their session remains active and vulnerable to exploitation through crafted malicious requests that leverage the victim's existing authenticated session. The vulnerability operates through the manipulation of HTTP requests where attackers can construct web pages or send email attachments that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submit requests to the WebAdmin interface. This occurs because the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources within the same session context, creating a pathway for unauthorized actions to be performed on behalf of authenticated users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it can enable attackers to perform administrative functions within the Netezza environment without proper authorization. An attacker could potentially modify database configurations, access sensitive data, alter user permissions, or even delete critical system components. The unspecified nature of victim targets suggests that any authenticated user session within the WebAdmin application could be compromised, potentially affecting system administrators, database operators, or other authorized personnel who maintain the Netezza infrastructure. This vulnerability particularly threatens organizations that rely on the WebAdmin interface for routine maintenance and configuration tasks, as it could allow attackers to gain complete control over the data warehousing platform.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates for IBM Netezza versions 6.0.5, 6.0.8, and 7.0 before P2. The remediation process involves updating the WebAdmin application to versions that properly implement anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms, ensuring that all requests are authenticated through proper session verification. Network-level protections such as implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious request patterns can provide additional defense-in-depth measures. Security teams should also conduct thorough session management reviews and ensure that proper access controls are enforced throughout the application. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and represents a classic example of how insufficient input validation and session management can create persistent security risks in enterprise applications. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique through session manipulation, emphasizing the importance of proper session handling and token validation in maintaining application security boundaries.