CVE-2016-9735 in Jazz Foundation
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz Foundation could allow an authenticated user to obtain sensitive information from stack traces. IBM X-Force ID: 119781,
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/26/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9735 affects IBM Jazz Foundation, a collaborative software development platform that provides integrated tools for agile development and project management. This security flaw represents a sensitive data exposure issue that occurs when the system reveals internal stack trace information to authenticated users who should not have access to such diagnostic details. The vulnerability stems from inadequate error handling mechanisms within the application's response processing, where stack trace information is inadvertently exposed to users with valid authentication credentials. This type of information disclosure vulnerability falls under the CWE-209 category, which specifically addresses the exposure of stack traces to unauthorized users, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1211 for exfiltration of information through error messages.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs within the Jazz Foundation's error reporting and exception handling subsystems. When certain operations fail or encounter unexpected conditions, the system generates stack trace information containing detailed internal system paths, class names, method signatures, and potentially sensitive environmental data. Even though the user must be authenticated to access the system, the flaw allows them to retrieve this sensitive diagnostic information through normal application interaction patterns. The stack traces often contain information about the underlying operating system, database connection details, file system locations, and application component hierarchies that could be leveraged by attackers to understand the system architecture and identify potential further attack vectors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it significantly increases the attack surface for potential exploitation. An authenticated user with access to the system can gather detailed information about the internal workings of the application, including database connection strings, file paths, and system configurations. This intelligence could be used by attackers to craft more sophisticated attacks against the system or to identify other vulnerabilities that might exist within the same application framework. The exposure of such information can lead to privilege escalation attempts, as attackers might discover additional system components or services that are not properly secured. The vulnerability also violates security best practices outlined in the OWASP Top Ten, particularly the category of sensitive data exposure, and could result in compliance violations for organizations that must maintain strict data protection standards.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper error handling and response management within the IBM Jazz Foundation environment. Organizations should configure the system to suppress detailed stack trace information from user-facing responses while maintaining comprehensive logging for system administrators and security personnel. The implementation of custom error pages that do not expose internal system information is essential, along with ensuring that all authentication and authorization checks properly validate user privileges before allowing access to sensitive system information. Security hardening measures should include configuring the application server to limit the amount of diagnostic information returned in error responses, implementing input validation to prevent conditions that trigger stack trace generation, and establishing monitoring procedures to detect unusual patterns of error response access. Additionally, regular security assessments should be conducted to ensure that similar vulnerabilities do not exist in other components of the Jazz Foundation ecosystem, as this type of information disclosure often indicates broader architectural weaknesses in error handling practices.