CVE-2013-4053 in WebSphere Application Server
Summary
by MITRE
The WS-Security implementation in IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 6.1 before 6.1.0.47, 7.0 before 7.0.0.31, 8.0 before 8.0.0.8, and 8.5 before 8.5.5.1, and WAS Feature Pack for Web Services 6.1 before 6.1.0.47, when a trust store is configured for XML Digital Signatures, does not properly verify X.509 certificates, which allows remote attackers to obtain privileged access via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/24/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-4053 represents a critical flaw in IBM WebSphere Application Server's WS-Security implementation that undermines the integrity of XML digital signatures through improper X.509 certificate verification. This weakness exists across multiple versions of WebSphere Application Server including the 6.1, 7.0, 8.0, and 8.5 release lines, as well as the Feature Pack for Web Services 6.1, affecting systems where trust stores are configured for XML Digital Signatures. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of certificate chains and trust relationships, creating opportunities for attackers to exploit the security controls that should protect against unauthorized access to privileged resources.
The technical flaw manifests in the WS-Security implementation's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates when processing XML Digital Signatures, specifically within the trust store configuration context. This improper certificate verification allows attackers to bypass the expected security controls that should ensure only legitimate, trusted certificates can authenticate and authorize operations within the application server environment. The vulnerability operates at the cryptographic validation layer where certificate chains should be verified against configured trust stores, but instead permits malformed or untrusted certificates to pass validation and establish authenticated sessions. This weakness directly relates to CWE-311, which addresses the absence of proper certificate validation in security protocols, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1552.001 for credential access through manipulation of cryptographic components.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple authentication bypass to potentially enable full privilege escalation within the WebSphere Application Server environment. Attackers exploiting this weakness could gain unauthorized access to sensitive applications, data, and system resources that should only be accessible to authorized users with proper credentials and certificates. The unspecified vectors mentioned in the description suggest that multiple attack paths may exist, potentially including man-in-the-middle attacks, certificate substitution attacks, or exploitation of weak certificate validation logic. This vulnerability particularly impacts organizations relying on WebSphere Application Server for enterprise web services, where WS-Security is used to protect sensitive business transactions and communications, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise enterprise security infrastructure.
Organizations affected by CVE-2013-4053 should immediately implement the vendor-provided security patches for their respective WebSphere Application Server versions, as IBM released updates addressing the certificate verification deficiencies in the WS-Security implementation. System administrators should also review existing trust store configurations to ensure proper certificate validation policies are in place and consider implementing additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized certificate usage patterns. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper certificate validation in security protocols and highlights the need for organizations to maintain updated security configurations, particularly in enterprise environments where Web Services Security is actively deployed. Security teams should conduct comprehensive assessments of their WebSphere environments to identify systems potentially vulnerable to this class of attack and implement layered security controls to minimize the impact of potential exploitation attempts.