CVE-2014-0940 in Tivoli Service Automation Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in IBM Tivoli Service Automation Manager 7.2.2.2 before 7.2.2.2-TIV-TSAM-LA0041 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors involving the (1) REST API or (2) Self Service UI.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/22/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-0940 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting IBM Tivoli Service Automation Manager version 7.2.2.2 before the patch level 7.2.2.2-TIV-TSAM-LA0041. This vulnerability exists within the application's handling of user input across two primary interfaces: the REST API and the Self Service UI components. The flaw allows remote attackers to execute malicious web scripts or HTML code within the context of affected user sessions, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data or system compromise.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the application's web interfaces. When users interact with the REST API or Self Service UI components, the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses. This lack of proper sanitization creates an environment where attackers can inject malicious scripts that execute in the browser context of legitimate users. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 as "Cross-site Scripting" and aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1059.006 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell" and T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript" when considering the execution context.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, data theft, and privilege escalation. An attacker could inject scripts that steal authentication cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or even modify application behavior to gain unauthorized access to system resources. The vulnerability affects both the API endpoints and the user-facing interfaces, expanding the attack surface and increasing the likelihood of successful exploitation. Organizations using this version of IBM Tivoli Service Automation Manager face potential exposure to credential theft, unauthorized system access, and data integrity compromise.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve applying the vendor-provided patch level 7.2.2.2-TIV-TSAM-LA0041 which addresses the input validation issues in both the REST API and Self Service UI components. Network administrators should also implement additional security controls such as web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious script injection attempts. Input validation should be strengthened across all user-facing interfaces, and output encoding should be implemented to ensure that any user-supplied data is properly escaped before being rendered in web responses. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the service automation platform. Organizations should also consider implementing security awareness training for administrators to recognize potential exploitation attempts and maintain up-to-date security monitoring procedures to detect anomalous activities that may indicate exploitation attempts.