CVE-2016-5933 in Tivoli Monitoring
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Tivoli Monitoring 6.2 and 6.3 is vulnerable to possible host header injection attack that could lead to HTTP cache poisoning or firewall bypass. IBM Reference #: 1997223.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/05/2020
IBM Tivoli Monitoring versions 6.2 and 6.3 contain a critical host header injection vulnerability that poses significant security risks to enterprise monitoring environments. This vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of host headers in HTTP requests, allowing malicious actors to manipulate the host header field during web requests. The flaw enables attackers to inject arbitrary host values that can be processed by the application server, creating potential pathways for various attack vectors including cache poisoning and firewall bypass mechanisms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the application's failure to properly sanitize or validate host header inputs received from HTTP requests. When the monitoring application processes incoming requests, it accepts the host header value without adequate verification, allowing an attacker to craft malicious requests with manipulated host header values. This weakness exists at the application layer where HTTP request processing occurs, specifically within the web server configuration and application code handling of HTTP headers. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-614, which addresses sensitive data exposure through improper handling of HTTP headers, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where monitoring systems handle sensitive operational data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple cache poisoning to potentially enable complete firewall bypass scenarios. An attacker could exploit this weakness to manipulate how the application routes requests, potentially redirecting traffic through the monitoring system to access internal resources that should otherwise be protected by firewall rules. This could result in unauthorized access to backend systems, data exfiltration, or the ability to establish covert communication channels through the monitoring infrastructure. The implications are particularly severe in environments where Tivoli Monitoring serves as a central point for system visibility and control, as it provides attackers with potential access to critical monitoring data and operational controls.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to patched versions of IBM Tivoli Monitoring, implementing strict host header validation mechanisms, and configuring web servers to reject or normalize host header values. Network segmentation and additional firewall rules can provide defense-in-depth measures while patches are deployed. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and secure coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically addressing techniques related to HTTP header manipulation and application layer attacks. Regular security assessments and monitoring of HTTP request handling within enterprise applications should be prioritized to identify similar vulnerabilities in other systems that may be susceptible to similar host header injection attacks.