CVE-2016-8960 in Cognos Business Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10.2 could allow a user with lower privilege Capabilities to adopt the Capabilities of a higher-privilege user by intercepting the higher-privilege user's cookie value from its HTTP request and then reusing it in subsequent requests. IBM Reference #: 1993718.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/14/2020
This vulnerability in IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10.2 represents a critical session management flaw that enables privilege escalation through session hijacking techniques. The issue stems from inadequate session token handling mechanisms within the web application framework, where session cookies containing user privileges are not properly secured against interception and reuse by unauthorized parties. The vulnerability specifically affects the authentication and authorization components that govern user access controls and privilege levels within the business intelligence platform.
The technical implementation of this flaw allows an attacker with minimal privileges to capture valid session tokens from higher-privileged users during normal web browsing activities. These captured cookies contain authentication state information that includes user role memberships and access permissions. Once intercepted, the attacker can reuse these tokens in their own browser sessions to impersonate the higher-privileged user and gain unauthorized access to restricted functionalities, reports, and data within the Cognos environment. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-384 category of Session Management Flaws, specifically addressing the improper handling of session identifiers that should remain confidential and unique to each legitimate user session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to potentially compromise sensitive business intelligence data and analytical capabilities. Organizations using IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10.2 face significant risks including data leakage, unauthorized reporting modifications, and potential system compromise through elevated privileges. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprises that rely on role-based access controls for their business intelligence systems, where different user groups require varying levels of data access and system functionality. Attackers could leverage this flaw to access confidential financial reports, strategic analyses, or operational metrics that should be restricted to executive or administrative users only.
Security practitioners should implement comprehensive mitigations including the implementation of secure session management protocols, enforcement of HTTPS encryption for all communications, and regular session token rotation mechanisms. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper session handling as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten security controls, specifically addressing the need for secure session management and authentication controls. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as IP address binding for sessions, multi-factor authentication, and regular security auditing of authentication components. The IBM security advisory recommends immediate patching and implementation of proper session token validation to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation and maintain the integrity of the business intelligence platform's access controls.
This vulnerability type aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1548.002 for hijacking legitimate sessions and T1078 for valid accounts, as attackers exploit existing authenticated sessions rather than creating new unauthorized access points. The attack vector specifically relates to network traffic interception and session token reuse, making it particularly relevant for organizations with insufficient network security controls or those operating in environments where man-in-the-middle attacks may occur. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their business intelligence platforms to identify similar session management vulnerabilities and implement robust monitoring solutions to detect unusual session activity patterns that might indicate token interception attempts.