CVE-2013-2980 in Data Studio
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Web Console in IBM Data Studio 3.1.0 and 3.1.1 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that access monitored database information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/04/2017
The CVE-2013-2980 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within IBM Data Studio's Web Console component affecting versions 3.1.0 and 3.1.1. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and fundamentally undermines the authentication mechanisms that protect database monitoring functionalities. The flaw enables malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between the web application and legitimate users, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive database monitoring information through forged requests that appear to originate from authenticated users.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request validation mechanisms within the Web Console interface. When legitimate users authenticate to the IBM Data Studio console, their session tokens are typically validated through anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective measures. However, in affected versions, these protective mechanisms fail to adequately validate incoming requests, particularly those targeting database monitoring endpoints. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or exploit existing vulnerabilities in web browsers to submit requests that leverage the authenticated user's session without their knowledge or consent. This flaw specifically targets the monitoring database information access functionality, making it particularly dangerous for environments where database surveillance and administrative oversight are critical.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized data access, creating significant risks for database security and integrity. Remote attackers can leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary database monitoring requests, potentially gaining insights into database operations, user activities, and system configurations that should remain confidential. The vulnerability affects enterprise environments where IBM Data Studio is used for database administration and monitoring, potentially exposing sensitive operational data to unauthorized parties. Given that database monitoring typically reveals operational patterns, user access information, and system performance metrics, successful exploitation could provide attackers with valuable intelligence for subsequent attacks or compromise the broader database infrastructure.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, starting with immediate patching of affected IBM Data Studio versions to address the CSRF implementation flaws. Security teams should also deploy web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, particularly those attempting to manipulate database monitoring endpoints. The implementation of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the Web Console interface represents a fundamental requirement for preventing such attacks, aligning with industry best practices outlined in the CWE-352 category for cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be reviewed to limit exposure of the vulnerable console interface to untrusted networks, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect anomalous database access patterns that might indicate CSRF attack activity.
This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper session management and request validation in web applications, particularly those handling sensitive operational data. The attack vector represents a classic CSRF scenario where the application fails to properly verify the origin of requests, creating a pathway for malicious actors to perform unauthorized actions within the context of authenticated sessions. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and privilege escalation through web application exploitation, highlighting the need for comprehensive web security controls. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of regular security assessments and vulnerability management programs to identify and remediate authentication and session management flaws before they can be exploited by adversaries. Organizations should conduct thorough security reviews of all web-based administrative interfaces to ensure similar CSRF protections are implemented throughout their database management and monitoring systems.