CVE-2016-0399 in Maximo Asset Management
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.1 through 7.1.1.13, 7.5 before 7.5.0.9 IFIX007, and 7.6 before 7.6.0.5 FP005 allows remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/15/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-0399 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within IBM Maximo Asset Management software across multiple versions including 7.1 through 7.1.1.13, 7.5 before 7.5.0.9 IFIX007, and 7.6 before 7.6.0.5 FP005. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a fundamental web application security weakness that enables attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The flaw specifically resides in how the application processes and handles URL parameters, creating an avenue for malicious code injection that can compromise user sessions and data integrity.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when authenticated users interact with specially crafted URLs that contain malicious script payloads. Attackers can leverage this weakness to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content into the application's response, which then executes in the context of other users' browsers. This particular vulnerability demonstrates the classic pattern of reflected cross-site scripting where user input is directly incorporated into web responses without proper sanitization or encoding mechanisms. The authenticated nature of the attack means that exploitation requires legitimate user credentials, but once achieved, the attacker can execute code within the victim's browser session, potentially accessing sensitive data or performing unauthorized actions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal user credentials, access confidential information, or manipulate data within the Maximo Asset Management environment. The attack vector through URL parameters suggests that users might encounter this vulnerability while navigating through application interfaces or when processing external links that contain malicious payloads. This creates a significant risk for organizations relying on Maximo for critical asset management operations, as compromised user sessions could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive asset data, maintenance records, and operational information. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the asset management system and could potentially disrupt business operations if exploited at scale.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigations including input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent the injection of malicious scripts into application responses. The recommended approach involves implementing proper HTML encoding for all user-supplied input and ensuring that URL parameters are properly sanitized before being processed or displayed. Additionally, organizations should deploy web application firewalls and implement content security policies to provide additional layers of protection against XSS attacks. Regular patch management and applying the vendor-provided security fixes for affected versions is essential, as IBM has released specific updates to address this vulnerability. The implementation of security awareness training for users can also help reduce the risk of inadvertently clicking on malicious links that may exploit this vulnerability in the wild.