CVE-2014-3040 in Emptoris Contract Management
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in IBM Emptoris Contract Management 9.5.x before 9.5.0.6 iFix 10, 10.0.0.x before 10.0.0.1 iFix 10, 10.0.1.x before 10.0.1.4, and 10.0.2.x before 10.0.2.2 iFix 2; Emptoris Sourcing Portfolio 9.5.x before 9.5.1.3, 10.0.0.x before 10.0.0.1, 10.0.1.x before 10.0.1.3, and 10.0.2.x before 10.0.2.4; and Emptoris Spend Analysis 9.5.x before 9.5.0.4, 10.0.1.x before 10.0.1.3, and 10.0.2.x before 10.0.2.4 allows remote authenticated users to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that insert XSS sequences.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/08/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-3040 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting multiple IBM Emptoris products including Contract Management, Sourcing Portfolio, and Spend Analysis platforms. This CSRF vulnerability specifically allows authenticated attackers to manipulate the authentication context of arbitrary users by injecting malicious XSS sequences through crafted requests. The flaw exists across multiple version streams of these enterprise software solutions, with affected releases spanning from 9.5.x through 10.0.2.x versions. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe as it enables attackers to execute unauthorized actions within the context of authenticated sessions, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms within the web application's request processing pipeline. IBM Emptoris applications typically handle authentication through session management and token-based validation, but this particular flaw demonstrates inadequate protection against malicious request manipulation. The vulnerability specifically affects the processing of requests that contain XSS sequences, which suggests that the application's input validation and sanitization mechanisms are insufficient to prevent malicious payload injection. This weakness creates a dangerous scenario where authenticated users can be tricked into executing unintended actions through CSRF attacks that leverage their existing session context.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential data compromise, unauthorized transactions, and complete system infiltration. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can perform actions such as creating new user accounts, modifying existing records, transferring funds, or accessing sensitive business data without proper authorization. The fact that this affects multiple product lines within the IBM Emptoris suite indicates a systemic architectural weakness that requires comprehensive remediation across the entire software ecosystem. Organizations utilizing these platforms face significant risk of financial loss, regulatory non-compliance, and operational disruption. The vulnerability's presence in iFix versions suggests that even patched releases may contain incomplete protections, requiring careful version verification and comprehensive security assessments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-3040 should prioritize immediate implementation of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms and enhanced request validation controls. Organizations must ensure that all web requests contain unique, unpredictable tokens that are validated server-side before processing. The implementation should follow established security frameworks such as those recommended by the Open Web Application Security Project and align with CWE-352 standards for CSRF protection. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional layers of defense, though they should not be considered primary protections. Security teams should implement comprehensive monitoring for suspicious authentication patterns and unauthorized access attempts. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should verify the effectiveness of implemented controls. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK framework would place it within the privilege escalation and defense evasion categories, emphasizing the need for robust session management and access control mechanisms. Patch management programs must be immediately activated to upgrade to the latest available iFix versions that contain proper CSRF protection mechanisms.