CVE-2014-3069 in Curam Social Program Management
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple CRLF injection vulnerabilities in the Universal Access component in IBM Curam Social Program Management (SPM) 6.0.5.5, when WebSphere Application Server is not used, allow remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via unspecified parameters.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/06/2018
The vulnerability CVE-2014-3069 represents a critical security flaw in IBM Curam Social Program Management version 6.0.5.5 that affects the Universal Access component. This issue stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within the application's handling of user-supplied data, particularly when the system operates without WebSphere Application Server. The vulnerability manifests as multiple CRLF (Carriage Return Line Feed) injection points that enable malicious actors to manipulate HTTP headers and execute response splitting attacks. The flaw specifically targets the authentication flow where legitimate users can leverage their credentials to inject malicious CRLF sequences into HTTP responses, bypassing normal security controls that would otherwise prevent such modifications.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of unspecified parameters within the Universal Access component, which serves as a critical access control mechanism for the social program management system. When authenticated users submit data containing CRLF sequences, these characters are not properly sanitized or escaped before being incorporated into HTTP response headers. This allows attackers to inject additional HTTP headers or manipulate the response structure, creating conditions for HTTP response splitting attacks. The vulnerability's impact is amplified because it requires only authentication, meaning that legitimate users with valid credentials can potentially exploit this flaw to compromise system integrity and user sessions.
The operational consequences of CVE-2014-3069 extend beyond simple header injection, as HTTP response splitting attacks can enable sophisticated exploitation techniques including session hijacking, cross-site scripting attacks, and cache poisoning. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to manipulate web application behavior by injecting malicious headers that redirect users to compromised sites or inject malicious content into responses. The vulnerability affects the fundamental trust model of the application, as authenticated users can potentially compromise the security of other users within the same session or application context. Organizations relying on IBM Curam SPM for social program management face significant risks to data integrity and user privacy, particularly in environments where sensitive social program information is processed.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and sanitization mechanisms throughout the Universal Access component. Organizations must ensure that all user-supplied data is properly escaped and validated before being incorporated into HTTP responses, with particular attention to CRLF character sequences that could enable header injection. The recommended approach involves implementing strict encoding controls and adopting secure coding practices that prevent the inclusion of user-controllable data in HTTP headers without proper sanitization. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network-level protections such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious CRLF sequences in HTTP traffic. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-113, which addresses improper neutralization of CRLF sequences in HTTP headers, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential access through header manipulation. The remediation process requires thorough code review and input validation implementation, with comprehensive testing to ensure that all parameter handling within the Universal Access component properly addresses the injection vectors identified in this vulnerability.