CVE-2016-5996 in Tealeaf Customer Experience
Summary
by MITRE
The web portal in IBM Tealeaf Customer Experience before 8.7.1.8847 FP10, 8.8 before 8.8.0.9049 FP9, 9.0.0 and 9.0.1 before 9.0.1.1117 FP5, 9.0.1A before 9.0.1.5108_9.0.1A FP5, 9.0.2 before 9.0.2.1223 FP3, and 9.0.2A before 9.0.2.5224_9.0.2A FP3 does not enforce password-length restrictions, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access via a brute-force attack.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/26/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-5996 affects IBM Tealeaf Customer Experience web portal implementations across multiple version ranges, specifically targeting the authentication mechanism's password policy enforcement. This weakness resides in the portal's failure to properly validate password length requirements, creating a significant security gap that undermines the system's ability to protect against automated credential guessing attacks. The affected versions span from 8.7.1 through 9.0.2A, indicating a widespread issue that impacted numerous deployments of the customer experience analytics platform.
The technical flaw represents a failure in input validation and access control mechanisms, specifically within the authentication subsystem where password length constraints are not properly enforced. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to bypass the intended password complexity requirements, making the system more susceptible to brute-force attacks where attackers can systematically test password combinations without being restricted by minimum length requirements. The weakness creates a direct path for unauthorized access attempts that would otherwise be mitigated by proper password policies.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability significantly increases the attack surface for remote adversaries seeking unauthorized access to the Tealeaf Customer Experience portal. Attackers can leverage automated tools to conduct more effective brute-force campaigns, potentially leading to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive customer experience data. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations relying on the platform for customer analytics, business intelligence, and user behavior tracking, where unauthorized access could result in data breaches, privacy violations, and operational disruption. The impact extends beyond simple credential theft to potential exposure of proprietary customer insights and business-critical information.
Organizations should immediately implement the available patches and fixes provided by IBM for the affected versions, ensuring proper version control and deployment across all instances of the Tealeaf Customer Experience platform. Security teams should enhance monitoring for suspicious authentication attempts and consider implementing additional access controls such as account lockout mechanisms, multi-factor authentication, and rate limiting for login attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-521 Weak Password Requirements and addresses ATT&CK techniques related to credential access and privilege escalation, emphasizing the need for comprehensive authentication policy enforcement and regular security assessments of customer experience platforms.