CVE-2013-0465 in WebSphere Cast Iron Cloud Integration
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the IBM WebSphere Cast Iron physical and virtual appliance 6.0 and 6.1 before 6.1.0.15 and 6.3 before 6.3.0.1, when LDAP authentication is enabled, allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information, modify data, or cause a denial of service via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/23/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-0465 affects IBM WebSphere Cast Iron physical and virtual appliances running versions 6.0 and 6.1 before 6.1.0.15 and 6.3 before 6.3.0.1. This issue specifically manifests when LDAP authentication is enabled within the appliance environment, creating a significant security risk that impacts multiple operational domains. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors indicates that attackers could exploit various attack surfaces within the authentication and authorization mechanisms, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive system components. The vulnerability represents a critical weakness in the appliance's security architecture, particularly when integrated with LDAP authentication services that are commonly used in enterprise environments for centralized user management and access control.
The technical flaw underlying this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and authentication handling within the WebSphere Cast Iron appliance when LDAP integration is active. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to perform unauthorized operations including information disclosure, data modification, and denial of service attacks through unspecified attack vectors that likely involve manipulation of LDAP authentication requests or session handling mechanisms. This weakness creates opportunities for attackers to escalate privileges, access confidential data stored within the appliance, or disrupt service availability by exploiting flaws in how the system processes LDAP authentication requests. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple authentication bypasses, potentially enabling complete system compromise when combined with other attack vectors or when the appliance is integrated with sensitive enterprise systems.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-0465 is substantial across multiple security domains including confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Organizations utilizing affected WebSphere Cast Iron appliances with LDAP authentication enabled face risks of unauthorized data access, potential data corruption, and service disruption that could affect critical business processes. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can target these systems from outside the network perimeter without requiring physical access or prior authentication, making the attack surface particularly dangerous. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors suggests that the vulnerability may be exploitable through multiple techniques, potentially including injection attacks, session manipulation, or authentication bypass methods that could be leveraged to gain unauthorized access to sensitive enterprise data or systems.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation of this vulnerability by upgrading to the patched versions of IBM WebSphere Cast Iron appliances as specified in the vendor advisory. The mitigation strategy should include disabling LDAP authentication if it is not essential for operations, implementing network segmentation to limit access to affected appliances, and monitoring for suspicious authentication attempts or network activity. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other systems that might be running vulnerable versions of the software, particularly those that rely on LDAP authentication mechanisms. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability relates to CWE-200 Information Exposure and potentially CWE-284 Improper Access Control, while ATT&CK framework considerations include T1078 Valid Accounts and T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service as potential attack patterns that could be employed by adversaries exploiting this weakness. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining current security patches and implementing robust access control measures for enterprise integration platforms that handle sensitive business data.