CVE-2017-1156 in WebSphere Portal
Summary
by MITRE
IBM WebSphere Portal 8.5 and 9.0 could allow a remote attacker to conduct phishing attacks, using an open redirect attack. By persuading a victim to visit a specially-crafted Web site, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to spoof the URL displayed to redirect a user to a malicious Web site that would appear to be trusted. This could allow the attacker to obtain highly sensitive information or conduct further attacks against the victim. IBM X-Force. ID: 122592
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1156 affects IBM WebSphere Portal versions 8.5 and 9.0, representing a critical security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute open redirect attacks. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-601 category of URL Redirection to Untrusted Site, which is a well-documented weakness in web application security. The flaw specifically resides in how the portal handles URL redirection mechanisms, allowing attackers to craft malicious links that appear to originate from legitimate trusted domains while actually directing users to attacker-controlled destinations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the portal's redirection functionality without proper validation of target URLs. When users encounter a crafted link within the WebSphere Portal environment, the application processes the redirect parameter without sufficient sanitization or domain verification. This allows an attacker to construct a URL that initially appears trustworthy but ultimately redirects users to phishing sites or malicious content that mimics legitimate corporate portals. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it leverages the inherent trust users place in their organization's portal infrastructure.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations deploying IBM WebSphere Portal solutions, as it enables sophisticated social engineering attacks that can bypass traditional security controls. The impact extends beyond simple information theft to include potential credential harvesting, malware distribution, and further compromise of the victim's system. Attackers can craft convincing phishing pages that display the legitimate portal URL in the browser address bar, making it extremely difficult for users to detect the deception. This capability undermines the security posture of the entire organization by exploiting the trust relationship between users and the corporate portal environment.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and sanitization of all redirect parameters, implementing strict domain whitelisting for redirect destinations, and deploying web application firewalls with specific rules to detect and block suspicious redirect patterns. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for phishing and T1071.004 for application layer protocol usage, demonstrating how open redirect vulnerabilities can be leveraged as initial access vectors in broader attack campaigns. Additionally, user education programs should emphasize the importance of verifying URL authenticity even when the browser displays familiar domain names, as this vulnerability specifically targets the trust model inherent in legitimate portal usage patterns.