CVE-2016-9707 in Jazz Foundation
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz Foundation is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) error when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose highly sensitive information or consume all available memory resources. IBM Reference #: 2000784.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/24/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9707 affects IBM Jazz Foundation, a collaborative software development platform that provides integrated tools for requirements management, change management, and project tracking. This critical security flaw stems from an XML External Entity Injection vulnerability that occurs during XML data processing within the application's core components. The XXE vulnerability represents a well-documented class of security flaws categorized under CWE-611, which specifically addresses improper restriction of XML external entity references in processing XML data. The vulnerability exists in the application's XML parser implementation, where it fails to properly validate and sanitize external entity references in incoming XML documents.
Attackers can exploit this XXE vulnerability by crafting malicious XML payloads that reference external resources or internal system files through XML external entities. When the vulnerable IBM Jazz Foundation processes these specially crafted XML documents, the system attempts to resolve the external entity references, potentially leading to information disclosure or resource exhaustion. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it requires no authentication and can be executed remotely, making it accessible to any attacker who can send XML data to the affected system. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple denial of service, as it can enable attackers to access sensitive system information through out-of-band data retrieval mechanisms or consume excessive memory resources through recursive entity expansion attacks.
The operational consequences of this vulnerability are severe for organizations relying on IBM Jazz Foundation for their development processes. A successful exploitation could result in unauthorized access to confidential project data, source code repositories, or system configuration information that would typically be protected from external access. The memory consumption aspect of the vulnerability poses additional risks as it could lead to system instability, application crashes, or complete service outages that would disrupt development workflows and potentially impact production deployments. Organizations using this platform may experience cascading effects where the denial of service impacts multiple dependent systems or processes that rely on the Jazz Foundation for their operational continuity.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-9707 should focus on immediate remediation through official IBM patches and updates that address the XML parsing implementation. Organizations should implement XML parser configurations that disable external entity resolution andDTD processing entirely, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for data from information repositories. Network-level protections including firewalls and intrusion detection systems should be configured to monitor and restrict XML data traffic to affected endpoints. Additionally, input validation mechanisms should be strengthened to sanitize all incoming XML data, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify potential XXE vulnerabilities in other applications and services. The implementation of proper access controls and the principle of least privilege can further reduce the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing application firewalls or web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious XML payloads before they reach the vulnerable application components.