CVE-2014-0959 in WebSphere Portal
Summary
by MITRE
IBM WebSphere Portal 6.1.0 through 6.1.0.6 CF27, 6.1.5 through 6.1.5.3 CF27, 7.0 through 7.0.0.2 CF28, and 8.0 before 8.0.0.1 CF12 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via a login redirect.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/21/2022
IBM WebSphere Portal versions 6.1.0 through 6.1.0.6 CF27, 6.1.5 through 6.1.5.3 CF27, 7.0 through 7.0.0.2 CF28, and 8.0 before 8.0.0.1 CF12 contain a critical vulnerability that enables remote authenticated attackers to trigger an infinite loop condition through malicious login redirect attempts. This vulnerability resides in the portal's authentication and redirection handling mechanisms, specifically within the way the system processes login redirect parameters. The flaw manifests when authenticated users submit crafted redirect URLs that cause the portal to enter an infinite loop during the authentication flow, ultimately resulting in a denial of service condition that affects legitimate users attempting to access portal resources.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and loop detection within the portal's authentication redirect logic. When a user authenticates and the system processes a redirect URL, the application fails to properly validate or sanitize the redirect parameter, allowing malicious input to cause the authentication subsystem to repeatedly process the same redirect request without proper termination conditions. This creates a scenario where the portal's internal state management becomes stuck in a continuous processing loop, consuming system resources and rendering the portal unavailable to other users. The vulnerability maps to CWE-835, which specifically addresses infinite loops in software systems, and represents a classic example of improper input validation leading to resource exhaustion.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can severely compromise the availability and reliability of enterprise portal environments that rely on IBM WebSphere Portal for business-critical applications. Organizations using affected versions may experience complete portal unavailability during attack windows, affecting thousands of concurrent users who depend on the portal for business operations. The vulnerability affects authentication flows across multiple major versions of the portal software, indicating a systemic issue within the authentication framework that requires immediate attention. Security teams may observe increased system resource consumption, application timeouts, and potential cascading failures in dependent systems that rely on portal availability, making this a high-priority remediation requirement for enterprise environments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant IBM security patches and hotfixes that address the authentication redirect validation issue. Network-level controls such as implementing proper URL validation rules at proxy or firewall levels can provide temporary protection while patches are deployed. Additionally, monitoring for unusual authentication patterns and redirect behavior should be enabled to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and loop detection mechanisms in authentication systems, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting on authentication requests and establishing automated alerting for authentication system anomalies to prevent exploitation and maintain portal availability.