CVE-2015-0787 in Designer for Identity Manager
Summary
by MITRE
XSS in NetIQ Designer for Identity Manager before 4.5.3 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTML code via the accessMgrDN value of the forgotUser.do CGI.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-0787 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within NetIQ Designer for Identity Manager versions prior to 4.5.3. This weakness resides in the forgotUser.do CGI script which processes the accessMgrDN parameter without adequate input validation or output encoding. The vulnerability enables remote attackers to execute malicious HTML code within the context of a victim's browser session, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive identity management resources. The affected component specifically handles user account recovery functionality, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit identity management systems. This flaw directly violates security principles by failing to implement proper sanitization mechanisms for user-supplied input that flows into web responses.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of the accessMgrDN parameter within the forgotUser.do CGI endpoint. When an attacker submits malicious HTML content through this parameter, the application fails to properly encode or validate the input before rendering it in the web response. This creates an environment where attacker-controlled scripts can execute in the victim's browser context, potentially stealing session cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or performing unauthorized actions within the identity management system. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic lack of input sanitization that aligns with CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. The flaw represents a failure in the principle of least privilege and proper data validation, allowing untrusted input to directly influence the application's output generation process.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can compromise the entire identity management infrastructure that NetIQ Designer protects. Attackers could leverage this flaw to impersonate legitimate users, access restricted identity information, or manipulate user accounts within the system. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of identity management processes, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive corporate resources. Organizations relying on NetIQ Designer for identity management may experience significant security breaches, with the potential for lateral movement within networks through compromised user accounts. This vulnerability undermines the trust model of the identity management system, as it allows attackers to inject malicious content that appears to originate from legitimate system components, creating a sophisticated attack vector that aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 - Command and Scripting Interpreter. The impact is particularly severe given that identity management systems typically contain highly sensitive user credentials and access control information.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-0787 require immediate implementation of the vendor-provided patch for NetIQ Designer Identity Manager version 4.5.3 or later, which addresses the input validation weakness in the forgotUser.do CGI script. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms for all user-supplied parameters, particularly those used in web-based identity management functions. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in user account recovery requests that might indicate exploitation attempts. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection against script execution in compromised contexts. Security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of all identity management components and ensure proper configuration of input sanitization mechanisms. Regular security testing including dynamic application security testing should be performed to identify similar vulnerabilities in other web applications within the organization's infrastructure, as this vulnerability type remains prevalent in web applications and aligns with common OWASP Top 10 categories for injection flaws.