CVE-2014-3102 in WebSphere Portal
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM WebSphere Portal 7.0.0 through 7.0.0.2 CF28 and 8.0.0 before 8.0.0.1 CF13 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/10/2022
The cross-site scripting vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3102 affects IBM WebSphere Portal versions 7.0.0 through 7.0.0.2 CF28 and 8.0.0 before 8.0.0.1 CF13, representing a critical security flaw that enables remote authenticated attackers to execute malicious web scripts or HTML code through manipulated URL parameters. This vulnerability resides within the portal's input validation mechanisms, specifically failing to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in web responses. The flaw manifests when authenticated users navigate to specially crafted URLs that contain malicious script payloads, which are then executed in the context of other users' browsers who access the affected portal. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-79, which defines Cross-Site Scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is sent to a web browser without proper validation or encoding, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, and redirection to malicious sites. An attacker with valid credentials can leverage this vulnerability to inject persistent scripts that will execute whenever other users view affected portal pages, potentially compromising the entire user base that accesses the vulnerable system. The authenticated nature of the attack means that attackers do not need to exploit public-facing interfaces or bypass authentication mechanisms, significantly reducing the attack surface and increasing the likelihood of successful exploitation. This vulnerability directly maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566.001 for spearphishing with a link, as attackers can craft malicious URLs to deliver payloads to unsuspecting users within the portal environment.
Organizations utilizing IBM WebSphere Portal versions affected by CVE-2014-3102 face substantial risk of unauthorized access and data compromise, particularly in environments where the portal serves as a central hub for business applications and user authentication. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple minor versions indicates a fundamental flaw in the input sanitization process that was not adequately addressed in the affected releases. Security practitioners should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant IBM security patches and hotfixes, implementing robust input validation controls, and configuring proper output encoding mechanisms to prevent script injection. Additional defensive measures include implementing web application firewalls with XSS detection capabilities, conducting regular security assessments of portal configurations, and establishing monitoring procedures to detect anomalous URL access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and demonstrates how seemingly minor input validation flaws can create significant security risks in enterprise portal environments where user trust and data integrity are paramount.