CVE-2015-7492 in InfoSphere Master Data Management
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Reference Data Management (RDM) in IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management 10.1, 11.0 before FP5, 11.3, 11.4, and 11.5 before FP1 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/01/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-7492 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management's Reference Data Management component. This security weakness affects multiple versions of the enterprise data management platform including 10.1, 11.0 before fix pack 5, 11.3, 11.4, and 11.5 before fix pack 1. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data before it is rendered in web interfaces. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious URLs containing malicious script code that gets executed in the context of authenticated users' browsers when they access the vulnerable application.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without proper sanitization or encoding. This weakness operates at the application layer and leverages the trust relationship between authenticated users and the web application to execute malicious code. The vulnerability requires an authenticated user context, meaning attackers must first establish valid credentials to exploit the flaw, though this does not significantly reduce the risk given that many enterprise applications maintain persistent user sessions and the attack can be executed through legitimate application workflows.
From an operational impact perspective, successful exploitation of CVE-2015-7492 could enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities including session hijacking, data theft, privilege escalation, and redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations using IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management for critical data governance operations, where the compromise of user sessions could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive master data assets. The attack vector through crafted URLs makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be delivered via phishing campaigns or embedded in legitimate application workflows, making detection more challenging for security teams.
The exploitation of this vulnerability falls under the ATT&CK framework category of T1566 - Phishing and T1059 - Command and Scripting Interpreter, as attackers can leverage the XSS capability to execute malicious scripts and potentially escalate privileges. Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through applying the appropriate IBM fix packs and security updates to address this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include implementing proper input validation at multiple layers, deploying web application firewalls, and conducting regular security assessments of web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities. The incident underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches in enterprise software environments and highlights the critical need for robust input sanitization practices in web applications that process user-supplied data.