CVE-2014-3056 in WebSphere Portal
Summary
by MITRE
The Unified Task List (UTL) Portlet for IBM WebSphere Portal 7.x and 8.x through 8.0.0.1 CF12 allows remote attackers to obtain potentially sensitive information about environment variables and JAR versions via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/26/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3056 resides within the Unified Task List (UTL) Portlet of IBM WebSphere Portal versions 7.x and 8.x through 8.0.0.1 CF12, representing a significant information disclosure weakness that exposes system internals to remote attackers. This flaw falls under the category of information exposure vulnerabilities, specifically categorized as CWE-200, which encompasses the disclosure of information that could aid attackers in understanding system configurations and potentially identifying additional attack vectors. The UTL Portlet, designed to provide task management capabilities within the portal environment, inadvertently exposes sensitive operational details through unspecified attack vectors that allow remote exploitation without requiring authentication.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization within the portlet's response handling mechanisms. Attackers can leverage this weakness to extract environment variables and JAR version information from the target system, providing them with critical insights into the underlying infrastructure configuration. This information disclosure includes details about system properties, classpath configurations, and software versioning that could significantly aid in crafting more sophisticated attacks. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple information gathering as the exposed environment variables may contain sensitive configuration parameters, database connection strings, or other operational details that could be exploited in subsequent attack phases.
The operational implications of this vulnerability are substantial for organizations running affected IBM WebSphere Portal versions, as the exposure of environment variables and JAR versions creates a comprehensive attack surface that could lead to further exploitation. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability gains valuable intelligence about the target environment, including potential software versions that may contain known exploits, system configurations that could reveal security misconfigurations, and environmental details that could facilitate privilege escalation or lateral movement within the network. The remote nature of this attack vector means that adversaries can exploit the vulnerability from outside the network perimeter, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with exposed portal instances.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant IBM security patches and updates that address this information disclosure vulnerability, restricting access to the UTL Portlet functionality through network segmentation or access controls, and implementing monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized access attempts to the affected portal components. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-200 emphasizes the importance of proper input validation and output filtering to prevent unintended information exposure. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify other potentially vulnerable components within their WebSphere Portal environments, as this vulnerability may indicate broader security configuration issues. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving information gathering and reconnaissance activities that precede more advanced exploitation phases, making it a critical target for immediate remediation to prevent potential compromise of the entire portal infrastructure.