CVE-2014-0888 in Worklight
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Worklight Foundation 5.x and 6.x before 6.2.0.0, as used in Worklight and Mobile Foundation, allows remote authenticated users to bypass the application-authenticity feature via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-0888 affects IBM Worklight Foundation versions 5.x and 6.x prior to 6.2.0.0, which are components of IBM Worklight and Mobile Foundation platforms. This issue represents a significant security flaw that undermines the application authenticity protection mechanisms designed to verify the integrity and legitimacy of mobile applications. The vulnerability specifically targets the application-authenticity feature, which is a critical security control that ensures only authorized and verified applications can access backend services and data within mobile enterprise environments.
The technical flaw in this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation mechanisms that allow authenticated users to bypass the application-authenticity checks through unspecified vectors. This weakness enables attackers to exploit the authentication flow and potentially gain unauthorized access to protected resources. The vulnerability operates at the application layer where the system should verify that the mobile application requesting access is legitimate and has not been tampered with, but the validation process fails to properly enforce these checks. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically related to inadequate permission controls and authentication bypass mechanisms that allow unauthorized access to protected resources.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-0888 is substantial for organizations utilizing IBM Worklight or Mobile Foundation platforms, as it creates a pathway for malicious actors to circumvent the security controls designed to protect mobile applications. Attackers who can authenticate to the system gain the ability to bypass application authenticity checks, potentially allowing them to access sensitive backend services, data, and functionality that should be restricted to legitimate applications. This vulnerability undermines the core security model of mobile application platforms, where application authenticity serves as a fundamental defense against unauthorized access and data breaches. Organizations using affected versions may experience unauthorized data access, potential data exfiltration, and compromise of mobile application ecosystems that rely on these security controls.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to IBM Worklight Foundation version 6.2.0.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability, as this represents the official patch release addressing the bypass issue. Additionally, system administrators should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their mobile application environments to identify any potential exploitation attempts. Security teams should implement enhanced monitoring of authentication and authorization events, particularly focusing on unusual access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The mitigation strategy should also include reviewing and strengthening access control policies, ensuring that proper segregation of duties exists between application developers and system administrators, and implementing additional layers of security such as network segmentation and enhanced logging capabilities. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the critical nature of application authenticity controls in mobile enterprise security architectures, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1548.001 for privilege escalation through application authentication bypass mechanisms.