CVE-2015-4964 in UrbanCode Deploy
Summary
by MITRE
IBM UrbanCode Deploy 6.0 and 6.0.1.x before 6.0.1.10, 6.1.1.x before 6.1.1.8, and 6.1.2 writes admin AUTH_TOKEN values to execution logs, which allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges by leveraging the ability to create and execute a process.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/11/2018
IBM UrbanCode Deploy versions 6.0 and 6.0.1.x before 6.0.1.10, 6.1.1.x before 6.1.1.8, and 6.1.2 contain a critical security flaw that exposes administrative authentication tokens in execution logs. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-200 category of Information Exposure and represents a significant privilege escalation risk. The flaw occurs when the system writes administrative AUTH_TOKEN values to execution logs during process creation and execution, creating persistent exposure of sensitive authentication credentials that can be accessed by authenticated users with appropriate privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of authentication tokens within the logging mechanism of the UrbanCode Deploy platform. When administrators create and execute processes within the system, the authentication tokens used for administrative access are inadvertently written to execution logs without proper sanitization or token obfuscation. This logging behavior creates a persistent exposure window where any authenticated user with sufficient privileges to access execution logs can extract these administrative tokens and leverage them for unauthorized access.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for Valid Accounts and T1566 for Phishing. Remote authenticated users who can create and execute processes within the UrbanCode Deploy environment can exploit this flaw to escalate their privileges and gain administrative access to the entire deployment platform. This allows attackers to bypass normal access controls and potentially compromise the entire deployment infrastructure, including access to sensitive deployment configurations, application credentials, and system resources. The vulnerability essentially provides a backdoor mechanism for privilege escalation that can be exploited without requiring additional attack vectors or complex exploitation techniques.
Organizations using affected versions of IBM UrbanCode Deploy should immediately implement mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates to versions 6.0.1.10, 6.1.1.8, and 6.1.2.1 respectively. Additional protective measures should include implementing strict log access controls, monitoring for unauthorized log access attempts, and ensuring that administrative credentials are rotated regularly. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper credential handling in logging systems and aligns with security best practices outlined in NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 controls for access control and information protection. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and privilege separation to limit the potential impact of credential exposure within their deployment environments.