CVE-2016-9975 in Jazz for Service Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz for Service Management 1.1.2.1 and 1.1.3 is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery which could allow an attacker to execute malicious and unauthorized actions transmitted from a user that the website trusts. IBM Reference #: 1998714.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9975 affects IBM Jazz for Service Management versions 1.1.2.1 and 1.1.3, representing a critical cross-site request forgery flaw that undermines the security posture of enterprise service management platforms. This vulnerability resides within the web application layer of the IBM Jazz platform, which is designed to facilitate service management workflows and collaboration within enterprise environments. The flaw allows attackers to exploit the trust relationship between the web application and its users, enabling unauthorized actions to be executed on behalf of authenticated users without their knowledge or consent.
Cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities occur when a web application fails to properly validate the origin of requests, allowing an attacker to craft malicious requests that appear to originate from a legitimate user. In the context of IBM Jazz for Service Management, this means that an attacker could potentially manipulate the service management workflows by tricking authenticated users into executing unintended actions such as creating new service requests, modifying existing tickets, changing user permissions, or accessing restricted data. The vulnerability specifically impacts the platform's ability to distinguish between legitimate user-initiated requests and maliciously crafted requests that exploit the trust relationship between the application and its users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation, as it can compromise the integrity and availability of critical service management processes within enterprise environments. Attackers could potentially disrupt service delivery workflows, gain unauthorized access to sensitive service management data, or even escalate privileges within the system. The consequences are particularly severe in service management contexts where the platform handles critical business processes, incident management, and user access controls. Organizations relying on IBM Jazz for Service Management could face significant operational disruptions, data breaches, and compliance violations if this vulnerability is exploited. The attack vector typically involves social engineering techniques where users are tricked into clicking malicious links or visiting compromised websites that automatically submit requests to the vulnerable IBM Jazz application.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-9975 should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF mechanisms within the application layer, including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens that are validated for each request. Organizations should ensure that all state-changing operations within the IBM Jazz platform require proper validation of request origins and implement proper session management controls. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery, and corresponds to techniques documented in the ATT&CK framework under T1566 for Phishing and T1078 for Valid Accounts. IBM has released patches and updates to address this vulnerability, and organizations should immediately apply the recommended security updates to remediate the issue. Additionally, network-level controls such as web application firewalls and proper access controls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to protect against exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to verify the effectiveness of implemented mitigations and ensure continued protection against similar vulnerabilities in the broader service management platform ecosystem.