CVE-2013-4057 in InfoSphere Information Server
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the XML Pack in IBM InfoSphere Information Server 8.5.x through 8.5 FP3, 8.7.x through 8.7 FP2, and 9.1.x through 9.1.2.0 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/08/2026
The CVE-2013-4057 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within IBM InfoSphere Information Server's XML Pack component. This vulnerability affects multiple versions including 8.5.x through 8.5 FP3, 8.7.x through 8.7 FP2, and 9.1.x through 9.1.2.0, creating a significant security risk across IBM's information server platform. The flaw allows remote attackers to exploit the authentication system by tricking users into performing unauthorized actions through malicious web requests that appear to originate from legitimate sources within the trusted domain.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the XML Pack's failure to properly validate and authenticate cross-origin requests. When users interact with the Information Server's web interface, the system should verify that requests originate from legitimate sources and contain appropriate authentication tokens. However, the XML Pack component lacks robust CSRF protection mechanisms, specifically failing to implement anti-CSRF tokens or proper origin validation for state-changing operations. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious requests that leverage existing user sessions and authentication contexts, effectively hijacking the user's authenticated session to perform unauthorized actions within the application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or modification, as it compromises the fundamental authentication model of the Information Server platform. Attackers can exploit this flaw to perform administrative operations, modify data configurations, access restricted information, or even escalate privileges within the system. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where InfoSphere Information Server typically handles sensitive business data and critical information management functions. A successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized data access, system compromise, and potential data breaches that could affect regulatory compliance and business operations.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations within the XML Pack interface, implementation of proper origin validation checks, and enhanced session management controls. The fix should align with industry standards such as CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities, and should incorporate techniques recommended by the MITRE ATT&CK framework for credential access and defense evasion. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their InfoSphere Information Server deployments to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across other components of the platform. The vulnerability underscores the importance of implementing robust session management and request validation mechanisms as part of the overall security architecture, particularly for enterprise information management systems handling sensitive data assets.