CVE-2016-3000 in Connections
Summary
by MITRE
The help service in IBM Connections 4.x through 4.5 CR5, 5.0 before CR4, and 5.5 before CR1 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (service degradation) via a crafted URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/26/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-3000 affects IBM Connections versions 4.x through 4.5 CR5, 5.0 before CR4, and 5.5 before CR1, specifically targeting the help service component. This issue represents a denial of service weakness that can be exploited by remote authenticated users who craft malicious URLs to disrupt service availability. The vulnerability resides within the help service functionality that processes user requests and generates responses, making it a critical point of failure for system availability. IBM Connections is a social business platform that provides collaboration features including wikis, blogs, forums, and file sharing capabilities, making the help service integral to user experience and system operations.
The technical flaw manifests through improper input validation within the help service URL processing mechanism. When authenticated users submit crafted URLs to the help service endpoint, the system fails to adequately sanitize or validate the input parameters before processing them. This lack of proper validation allows attackers to construct malicious URLs that trigger unexpected behavior within the help service, potentially causing resource exhaustion, thread blocking, or other conditions that degrade system performance. The vulnerability specifically impacts how the help service handles malformed or specially crafted URL parameters, creating a pathway for service disruption without requiring administrative privileges or elevated access rights.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service degradation to potentially compromise the overall stability and availability of the IBM Connections platform. Remote authenticated users can exploit this weakness to create sustained service disruptions that affect all users relying on the help service functionality. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires only authentication credentials, meaning that any legitimate user with access to the system can potentially exploit this vulnerability. This makes the attack surface broad and increases the risk of both accidental and intentional service disruption, particularly in enterprise environments where IBM Connections serves as a critical collaboration platform for business operations.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant IBM security patches and updates that address the input validation issues in the help service component. Network-level controls such as web application firewalls can help filter malicious URL patterns before they reach the vulnerable service, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual help service request patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, access controls should be reviewed to ensure that only necessary users have access to help service functionality, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar input validation weaknesses in other system components. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and represents a common attack pattern that could be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor input validation gaps can create significant operational risks in enterprise collaboration platforms.