CVE-2014-6175 in Marketing Operations
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM Marketing Operations 7.x and 8.x before 8.5.0.7.2, 8.6.x before 8.6.0.8, 9.0.x before 9.0.0.4.1, 9.1.0.x before 9.1.0.5, and 9.1.1.x before 9.1.1.2 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/04/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6175 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM Marketing Operations software across multiple version streams including 7.x, 8.x, 9.0.x, 9.1.0.x, and 9.1.1.x. This weakness falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79 which specifically addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation, making it a classic XSS vulnerability that enables attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of victim browsers. The vulnerability affects IBM Marketing Operations platforms that were widely used for marketing automation and campaign management, creating potential exposure for organizations relying on these systems for customer engagement and data processing activities.
The technical nature of this flaw stems from insufficient validation and sanitization of user-supplied input within the web application interface. Attackers with authenticated access to the system can exploit this vulnerability by injecting malicious web scripts or HTML content through unspecified vectors within the application's input handling mechanisms. These unspecified vectors likely encompass various form fields, parameter inputs, or data processing endpoints within the marketing operations platform where user input is not properly escaped or validated before being rendered back to users. The authenticated nature of the attack means that adversaries must first establish legitimate credentials, typically through credential compromise or social engineering, before they can leverage this vulnerability effectively.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-6175 extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, data theft, redirection to malicious sites, and potentially full system compromise. Given that IBM Marketing Operations platforms often handle sensitive customer data, campaign information, and business-critical marketing assets, successful exploitation could result in unauthorized access to proprietary marketing strategies, customer databases, and confidential business information. The vulnerability's presence in multiple version streams suggests a systemic issue within the application's input handling architecture, making it particularly concerning for organizations maintaining legacy systems or those unable to immediately patch all affected versions.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates released for IBM Marketing Operations versions 8.5.0.7.2, 8.6.0.8, 9.0.0.4.1, 9.1.0.5, and 9.1.1.2, which address the root cause of the XSS vulnerability. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth layers to detect and block malicious input attempts. Input validation and output encoding should be strengthened throughout the application to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other components. The attack surface should be minimized by implementing principle of least privilege access controls and regular security assessments to identify potential injection points within the marketing operations platform. Organizations should also consider implementing automated monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous input patterns consistent with XSS attack vectors, as specified in the MITRE ATT&CK framework's web application attack patterns.