CVE-2017-1110 in Curam Social Program Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Curam Social Program Management 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, and 7.0 contains an unspecified vulnerability that could allow an authenticated user to view the incidents of a higher privileged user. IBM X-Force ID: 120915.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/10/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1110 affects IBM Curam Social Program Management versions 6.0 through 7.0, representing a critical access control flaw that undermines the system's security model. This issue manifests as an information disclosure vulnerability where a lower-privileged authenticated user can potentially access sensitive incident data that should be restricted to higher-privileged users. The vulnerability stems from inadequate authorization controls within the application's user access management framework, creating a privilege escalation path that violates fundamental security principles.
This security flaw represents a violation of the principle of least privilege and directly impacts the system's integrity and confidentiality controls. The vulnerability allows for unauthorized data access patterns that could expose sensitive social program information, potentially including personal identifying information, case details, and other confidential data managed within the Curam platform. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability suggests a broad scope of potential impact across multiple application components, making it particularly concerning for organizations relying on this platform for sensitive social services management.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, as it could enable malicious actors to gain insights into organizational structures, user roles, and data relationships that should remain confidential. Attackers could leverage this access to conduct further reconnaissance, potentially identifying additional targets within the system or exploiting the knowledge gained to perform more sophisticated attacks. The vulnerability affects the system's ability to maintain proper data segregation and user access boundaries, which are fundamental requirements for maintaining trust in the platform's security posture.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks within the application's security architecture. The issue demonstrates weaknesses in the application's role-based access control mechanisms and suggests that proper access validation is not consistently enforced throughout the system. Organizations utilizing IBM Curam Social Program Management should consider this vulnerability in the context of broader security frameworks such as those defined by the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and NIST cybersecurity guidelines.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate application of available IBM security patches and updates, followed by comprehensive access control reviews to ensure proper user role assignments and privilege levels. Organizations should implement additional monitoring and logging of access patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts, while also conducting regular security assessments to identify similar authorization flaws. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security practices and proper system hardening procedures, particularly for enterprise applications handling sensitive personal information. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and additional security controls to limit the potential impact of such access control failures.