CVE-2013-4000 in Cognos Command Center
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in IBM Cognos Command Center before 10.2 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests that (1) start or (2) stop services.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-4000 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting IBM Cognos Command Center versions prior to 10.2. This security weakness resides in the application's failure to properly validate and authenticate administrative requests, creating a significant risk for organizations relying on this business intelligence platform. The vulnerability specifically impacts the command center's service management functionality, where authenticated administrators can be tricked into performing unintended actions without their knowledge or consent. The flaw operates through the manipulation of HTTP requests that control service operations, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where service availability and system integrity are paramount.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms within the affected IBM Cognos Command Center interface. When administrators navigate to the service management sections of the application, their authenticated sessions can be exploited by malicious actors who craft specially crafted requests designed to trigger service start or stop operations. This flaw aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities in web applications, and demonstrates how insufficient session validation can lead to unauthorized administrative actions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it targets administrative functions that directly impact system availability and operational continuity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to disrupt critical business processes through service manipulation. An attacker could potentially stop essential services, causing downtime that impacts business operations, or start unauthorized services that could compromise system security or performance. The remote nature of this attack means that exploitation does not require physical access to the system or insider knowledge of internal network structures. This vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and availability of the IBM Cognos Command Center environment, potentially leading to service disruption, data unavailability, and increased attack surface for subsequent compromise attempts. Organizations using affected versions face significant risk of operational disruption and potential security breaches.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to IBM Cognos Command Center version 10.2 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address this vulnerability. The remediation process should also include reviewing and implementing proper CSRF protection mechanisms within the application environment, such as implementing anti-CSRF tokens for administrative functions. Security teams should conduct comprehensive assessments of their IBM Cognos Command Center deployments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and monitor for suspicious service management activities. Additionally, implementing network segmentation and access controls can help limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and following the principle of least privilege for administrative accounts to minimize potential damage from such attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring and alerting mechanisms specifically for service management operations to detect unauthorized administrative activities.