CVE-2015-7450 in Cognos Business Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
Serialized-object interfaces in certain IBM analytics, business solutions, cognitive, IT infrastructure, and mobile and social products allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted serialized Java object, related to the InvokerTransformer class in the Apache Commons Collections library.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/23/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-7450 represents a critical remote code execution flaw affecting IBM Tivoli Common Reporting and Cognos Business Intelligence products. This vulnerability stems from the improper handling of serialized Java objects within the Apache Commons Collections library, specifically through the InvokerTransformer class. The flaw exists in multiple versions of IBM Tivoli Common Reporting including 2.1 before IF14, 2.1.1 before IF22, 2.1.1.2 before IF9, and various versions of Cognos Business Intelligence up to 10.2.1.1 IF12. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected systems by crafting malicious serialized Java objects that exploit the deserialization process.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the Apache Commons Collections library's deserialization mechanism, which is commonly used for object serialization and transmission across network boundaries. When the vulnerable system processes a crafted serialized object, the InvokerTransformer class within Commons Collections automatically invokes methods on target objects without proper validation. This creates a chain of method invocations that can be manipulated by attackers to execute arbitrary code on the target system. The vulnerability operates at the serialization layer, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered through any interface that accepts serialized data, including web services, file uploads, or network communications.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-7450 is severe and encompasses complete system compromise. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain full control over the affected server, potentially leading to data exfiltration, system infiltration, or deployment of additional malware. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from any network location without requiring physical access or prior authentication. Systems running affected versions of IBM Tivoli Common Reporting or Cognos Business Intelligence become immediately vulnerable to this attack vector, making it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise enterprise reporting and business intelligence platforms. Organizations with these systems in production environments face significant risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-7450 should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems with the latest security updates provided by IBM and Apache. Organizations must ensure all versions of IBM Tivoli Common Reporting and Cognos Business Intelligence are updated to patched releases that address the vulnerable Apache Commons Collections library. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be implemented to restrict access to affected systems, particularly limiting exposure to untrusted networks. Input validation and sanitization measures should be strengthened to prevent acceptance of potentially malicious serialized objects. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing application whitelisting and runtime application self-protection mechanisms to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-502, which describes deserialization of untrusted data, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation for execution through deserialization attacks. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining instances of the vulnerable components within the enterprise environment.