CVE-2016-9992 in Kenexa LCMS Premier on Cloud
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Kenexa LCMS Premier on Cloud 9.0, and 10.0.0 is vulnerable to SQL injection. A remote attacker could send specially-crafted SQL statements, which could allow the attacker to view, add, modify or delete information in the back-end database. IBM Reference #: 1992067.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-9992 affects IBM Kenexa LCMS Premier on Cloud versions 9.0 and 10.0.0, representing a critical security flaw that exposes the system to unauthorized database access through SQL injection techniques. This vulnerability resides within the web application layer of the cloud-based human capital management platform, which is designed to manage employee lifecycle processes including recruitment, onboarding, and performance management. The affected system operates in a cloud environment, making it particularly susceptible to remote exploitation as attackers can target the application from external networks without requiring physical access to the infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within the application's database interaction components. When the application processes user inputs through web forms or API endpoints, it fails to properly sanitize or escape special characters that could be interpreted as SQL commands by the underlying database engine. This allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary SQL statements that are then executed with the privileges of the database user account associated with the application. The vulnerability is classified as a classic SQL injection flaw under CWE-89, which specifically addresses improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL commands, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol manipulation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data theft, as it provides attackers with complete database manipulation capabilities. An attacker could extract sensitive employee information including personal identification details, salary records, performance evaluations, and confidential organizational data. The ability to modify or delete database entries could result in data integrity compromise, operational disruption, and potential financial losses. Additionally, the vulnerability could serve as a foothold for further attacks within the organization's network, as database credentials often have elevated privileges that could enable lateral movement. The cloud deployment model exacerbates the risk as the vulnerability affects multiple tenants sharing the same infrastructure, potentially allowing cross-tenant data exposure.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate implementation of input validation controls, parameterized queries, and proper database access controls. Organizations should deploy web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious SQL injection attempts, while also implementing the latest security patches provided by IBM. Network segmentation and principle of least privilege access should be enforced to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in the application stack. The remediation process must also include comprehensive monitoring of database activities for anomalous access patterns and implementation of proper logging mechanisms to track potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions that can detect and alert on SQL injection attempts in real-time.