CVE-2013-6305 in Platform Symphony
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Platform Symphony 5.2 before build 229037 and 6.1.0.1 before build 229073 uses the same credentials encryption key across different customers installations, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to obtain sensitive information by leveraging knowledge of this key.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/19/2018
This vulnerability affects IBM Platform Symphony versions 5.2 before build 229037 and 6.1.0.1 before build 229073 where the software employs a hardcoded encryption key for credential encryption across multiple customer installations. The flaw represents a critical weakness in the cryptographic implementation that violates fundamental security principles of key management and isolation. The vulnerability stems from the use of a static encryption key that is embedded within the software distribution rather than generating unique keys per installation or customer environment. This design decision creates a scenario where attackers who can obtain knowledge of this shared key can decrypt credentials from multiple unrelated customer installations, effectively breaking the security isolation that should exist between different organizations using the same software platform. The vulnerability is classified as a cryptographic weakness under CWE-327, specifically addressing the use of weak or predictable cryptographic keys. From an operational perspective, this flaw significantly increases the attack surface for unauthorized access to sensitive information including user credentials, database connection strings, and other authentication tokens that are stored within the platform. The impact extends beyond simple credential theft to potentially enable privilege escalation attacks and lateral movement within compromised environments. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability through various methods including reverse engineering of the software binaries, network traffic analysis, or by exploiting other vulnerabilities that provide access to the encryption key. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1552.001, which covers "Unsecured Credentials" and specifically addresses credential dumping and credential access through compromised encryption mechanisms. The weakness creates a scenario where a single compromise of the encryption key can expose data from multiple unrelated customers, making the impact significantly greater than typical credential exposure vulnerabilities. Organizations using IBM Platform Symphony should immediately implement mitigations including patching to the latest available builds that address this key management issue, and where patching is not immediately possible, implementing additional access controls and monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental failure in secure key management practices that should be addressed through proper implementation of unique key generation per installation and secure key distribution mechanisms.
The vulnerability exists because IBM Platform Symphony was designed with a static encryption key hardcoded within the application code rather than implementing proper key management protocols. This approach violates industry best practices for cryptographic key management as outlined in NIST SP 800-57 and ISO/IEC 13851 standards, which require unique key generation for each deployment and secure handling of cryptographic materials. The shared key approach creates a single point of failure that undermines the security model of the platform, as demonstrated by the ability of attackers to leverage knowledge of one key to compromise multiple installations. The specific implementation flaw involves the application's credential storage mechanism where user authentication data is encrypted using a fixed key that is identical across all installations, eliminating any form of cryptographic separation between different customer environments. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited by attackers with minimal technical expertise, as the key is not protected by additional security measures such as hardware security modules or secure key storage mechanisms. The vulnerability also impacts the principle of least privilege and separation of concerns that should be maintained between different customer installations in multi-tenant environments. From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability creates an attack path that allows adversaries to perform reconnaissance and credential harvesting at scale, potentially leading to broader system compromise and data breaches. The flaw can be exploited through various attack vectors including code analysis, memory dumping, and network-based attacks where attackers might intercept or manipulate encrypted credential data. This vulnerability specifically relates to the ATT&CK technique T1552.004, which covers "Credentials in Files" and represents how compromised encryption keys can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data stored in the platform's credential management system. The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond immediate credential exposure to include potential compromise of the entire platform infrastructure, as the same encryption key may be used for multiple types of sensitive data within the system. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring for unauthorized access attempts and consider implementing additional cryptographic protections such as key rotation mechanisms or alternative encryption approaches that provide proper isolation between different customer environments. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of secure software development practices and the need for proper cryptographic key lifecycle management in enterprise software platforms.