CVE-2016-2989 in WebSphere Portal
Summary
by MITRE
Open redirect vulnerability in the Connections Portlets component 5.x before 5.0.2 for IBM WebSphere Portal allows remote attackers to redirect users to arbitrary web sites and conduct phishing attacks via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2022
The CVE-2016-2989 vulnerability represents a critical open redirect flaw within IBM WebSphere Portal's Connections Portlets component version 5.x prior to 5.0.2. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-601 category of URL Redirection to Untrusted Site, which is a well-documented security weakness that enables attackers to manipulate web applications into redirecting users to malicious destinations. The flaw specifically affects the Connections Portlets functionality that facilitates social collaboration features within the WebSphere Portal environment, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise settings where users frequently interact with collaborative tools.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of redirect URLs within the Connections Portlets component. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious URLs that contain redirect parameters pointing to external domains controlled by the attacker. The vulnerability manifests when the application fails to properly sanitize or validate the destination URLs before executing redirects, allowing arbitrary web addresses to be specified in redirect operations. This weakness is particularly concerning because it operates at the application layer and can be exploited through various attack vectors including crafted links in emails, malicious websites, or compromised web pages that interact with the portal.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple redirection, creating significant risks for enterprise security and user safety. Remote attackers can leverage this weakness to conduct sophisticated phishing campaigns by redirecting users to convincing facsimiles of legitimate portal interfaces or login pages. The attack surface is particularly broad since the vulnerability affects a core collaboration component that is integral to enterprise portal functionality, potentially compromising thousands of users who interact with the Connections Portlets. This opens the door for credential theft, data exfiltration, and further lateral movement within the enterprise network, as users may unknowingly provide sensitive information to attackers who have successfully hijacked their browser sessions.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the official IBM WebSphere Portal 5.0.2 patch that addresses the specific redirect validation issue. Security teams should also consider implementing network-level controls such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious redirect patterns, though this approach provides only partial protection since the vulnerability exists within the application itself. Additional defensive measures include conducting thorough security assessments of all portal components and implementing user education programs to help identify potential phishing attempts that may exploit this vulnerability. From an att&ck framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the T1566 technique of Phishing and potentially T1071 for application layer protocol usage, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security controls that address both the technical flaw and the broader attack patterns that exploit it. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper input validation and output encoding practices that align with secure coding standards and can prevent similar issues in future development cycles.