CVE-2014-6151 in Tivoli Integrated Portal
Summary
by MITRE
CRLF injection vulnerability in IBM Tivoli Integrated Portal (TIP) 2.2.x allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via unspecified vectors.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/29/2018
The CVE-2014-6151 vulnerability represents a critical CRLF injection flaw within IBM Tivoli Integrated Portal version 2.2.x, presenting a significant security risk to organizations relying on this web-based enterprise portal solution. This vulnerability specifically affects the authentication and session management components of the portal, where improper input validation allows malicious actors to inject carriage return line feed sequences into HTTP headers. The flaw enables attackers to manipulate HTTP responses and potentially execute sophisticated attack vectors that can compromise user sessions and data integrity.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization of user-supplied input within the portal's HTTP header processing mechanisms. When authenticated users interact with the portal, their input can contain malicious CRLF sequences that are not properly filtered or escaped before being incorporated into HTTP response headers. This creates an opportunity for attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers, manipulate response content, and potentially redirect users to malicious websites. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited through various attack vectors including form submissions, URL parameters, or any user-controllable input field within the portal interface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple header injection, as it enables HTTP response splitting attacks that can lead to session hijacking, cross-site scripting, and cache poisoning scenarios. Attackers can exploit this flaw to create multiple HTTP responses within a single HTTP transaction, potentially allowing them to inject malicious content that gets cached by proxies or browsers. The authenticated nature of the attack means that adversaries need valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability, but once compromised, they can leverage the portal's legitimate access to conduct more sophisticated attacks. This vulnerability directly aligns with CWE-110 and CWE-113 categories related to improper neutralization of CRLF sequences and HTTP response splitting.
Organizations utilizing IBM Tivoli Integrated Portal 2.2.x should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and sanitization measures at all entry points where user data is processed and incorporated into HTTP headers. The recommended approach involves implementing strict input filtering that removes or encodes CRLF characters before they can be processed by the application's HTTP header generation functions. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious CRLF sequences in HTTP headers. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security assessments and patch management processes, as IBM has released fixes for this vulnerability in subsequent versions of the Tivoli Integrated Portal. Security teams should monitor network traffic for suspicious CRLF injection patterns and implement proper logging and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts.
This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation in web applications and aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to command and control communications and credential access. The attack surface is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where Tivoli Integrated Portal serves as a central authentication and access point for various business applications, making successful exploitation potentially devastating for organizational security posture. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as secure header configurations, content security policies, and regular security training for administrators to prevent similar vulnerabilities in other components of their IT infrastructure.