CVE-2017-1118 in WebSphere MQ Internet Pass-Thru
Summary
by MITRE
IBM WebSphere MQ Internet Pass-Thru 2.0 and 2.1 could allow n attacker to cause the MQIPT to stop responding due to an incorrectly configured security policy. IBM X-Force ID: 121156.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/07/2021
IBM WebSphere MQ Internet Pass-Thru version 2.0 and 2.1 contains a vulnerability that can be exploited to cause a denial of service condition through improper handling of security policies. This flaw specifically affects the MQIPT component which serves as an interface for internet-based messaging operations. The vulnerability stems from incorrect configuration handling within the security policy framework that governs how authentication and authorization requests are processed. When an attacker crafts malicious security policy configurations or exploits existing misconfigurations, the MQIPT service becomes unable to properly process incoming requests, leading to a complete service stoppage. The root cause of this issue aligns with CWE-200, which describes improper handling of security policies and access control mechanisms. The vulnerability creates a condition where legitimate system operations cannot proceed due to the security policy engine becoming unresponsive or entering an inconsistent state. From an operational perspective, this represents a critical weakness in the messaging infrastructure that could be exploited by adversaries to disrupt business continuity and communication flows. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as it affects the reliability of enterprise messaging systems that depend on WebSphere MQ for critical data transmission. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to perform sustained denial of service attacks against enterprise networks, potentially causing cascading failures in applications that rely on message queueing for inter-system communication. The issue demonstrates poor input validation and error handling within the security policy processing subsystem, creating a path for attackers to destabilize core messaging components. Organizations using these vulnerable versions face significant risk of operational disruption and potential data flow interruptions. This vulnerability maps to attack techniques in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1499 category for network denial of service, specifically targeting service availability through policy manipulation. The flaw represents a design weakness in how the system handles security policy validation and processing, particularly when encountering malformed or unexpected policy configurations. Security administrators should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to this vulnerability while awaiting official patches from IBM. The incident highlights the importance of proper security policy configuration management and the need for robust error handling in enterprise messaging systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the MQIPT service's interaction with security policy frameworks that govern access control decisions. When security policies are improperly configured or when malicious inputs are processed through the policy engine, the system enters a state where it cannot properly authenticate or authorize requests. This failure mode results in the service becoming unresponsive to legitimate requests while potentially remaining active enough to prevent system recovery. The flaw specifically impacts how the system handles policy validation during connection establishment and message processing phases. From a security architecture standpoint, this represents a failure in the principle of least privilege and proper access control enforcement. The vulnerability creates an attack surface where policy misconfigurations can be leveraged to cause system instability and service unavailability. The improper handling of security policy configurations means that even valid policy files could trigger the denial of service condition if they contain specific patterns or structures that the system cannot properly parse. This weakness demonstrates a lack of proper error recovery mechanisms within the security policy processing pipeline, allowing the system to become permanently stuck in a non-responsive state.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations to protect against exploitation of this vulnerability while working toward permanent fixes through official IBM patches. Network access controls should be implemented to restrict access to the MQIPT service from untrusted networks and to limit the attack surface exposure. Security policy configuration should be reviewed and hardened to prevent malformed inputs from reaching the vulnerable processing components. System monitoring should be enhanced to detect early signs of service degradation or policy processing failures that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's impact on enterprise messaging infrastructure underscores the need for comprehensive incident response procedures that include rapid assessment of security policy configurations and immediate remediation actions. Regular security audits of messaging system configurations should be conducted to identify and correct potential misconfigurations that could lead to similar service disruption scenarios. Organizations should also consider implementing redundant messaging pathways and failover mechanisms to maintain business continuity during potential exploitation events. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining updated security policies and proper system hardening practices to prevent exploitation of configuration-based weaknesses in enterprise messaging systems.