CVE-2013-3048 in Maximo Asset Management
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM Maximo Asset Management 6.2 through 6.2.8, 7.1 through 7.1.1.12, and 7.5 before 7.5.0.3 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/17/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3048 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM Maximo Asset Management software across multiple versions including 6.2 through 6.2.8, 7.1 through 7.1.1.12, and 7.5 before 7.5.0.3. This weakness falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities, making it a well-documented and severe security concern. The flaw enables remote authenticated attackers to inject malicious web scripts or HTML content into the application, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Maximo Asset Management platform. Attackers can exploit this weakness by leveraging legitimate user authentication credentials to submit malicious payloads through unspecified vectors within the application's web interface. These vectors likely involve form fields, URL parameters, or other user-controllable input points where the application fails to properly sanitize or encode user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses. The vulnerability's classification as authenticated means that attackers must first establish valid user credentials, typically through legitimate access to the system, which makes the attack more targeted but still potentially devastating.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive asset management data, manipulate business processes, and potentially escalate privileges within the Maximo environment. Given that Maximo Asset Management is widely used for critical asset tracking and maintenance operations across enterprise environments, a successful XSS attack could compromise the integrity of asset data, maintenance schedules, and operational workflows. The authenticated nature of the attack reduces the attack surface compared to unauthenticated vulnerabilities, but it still represents a significant threat to organizations relying on Maximo for their asset management operations.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant IBM security patches and updates released for the affected versions. The remediation process should involve comprehensive testing of the patched environment to ensure that the XSS vulnerability is fully resolved without introducing regressions in functionality. Additionally, implementing proper input validation controls, output encoding mechanisms, and web application firewalls can provide additional layers of protection. Security teams should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any other potential XSS vectors within the Maximo environment and related systems. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under the T1059.007 technique for 'Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript' which demonstrates how attackers can leverage client-side scripting vulnerabilities to establish persistent access or escalate privileges within enterprise environments. Organizations should also consider implementing security awareness training for administrators to recognize potential exploitation attempts and monitor for unusual user behavior that might indicate successful exploitation of this vulnerability.