CVE-2017-1242 in Quality Manager
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Quality Manager (RQM) 5.0.x and 6.0 through 6.0.5 are vulnerable to HTML injection. A remote attacker could inject malicious HTML code, which when viewed, would be executed in the victim's Web browser within the security context of the hosting site. IBM X-Force ID: 124524.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/03/2023
IBM Quality Manager versions 5.0.x through 6.0.5 contain a critical HTML injection vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute malicious code within victim browsers. This flaw falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and represents a severe security weakness in the web application's input validation mechanisms. The vulnerability occurs when user-supplied data is not properly sanitized before being rendered in web pages, creating an opportunity for attackers to inject malicious HTML content that executes in the context of the authenticated user's session.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization within the RQM application's web interface components. When users submit data through various input fields or upload content, the application fails to adequately validate or escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This allows an attacker to craft malicious payloads that, when processed by the web server, get embedded directly into web pages served to other users. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it operates within the security context of the hosting site, meaning the injected code can access the same cookies, session tokens, and other browser resources that the legitimate user has access to.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive authentication tokens, redirect users to malicious sites, or even execute administrative commands within the RQM environment. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the quality management system, potentially compromising test data integrity, user credentials, and access controls. Given that RQM is typically used in enterprise environments for quality assurance and testing management, the compromise of this system could lead to broader security incidents affecting software development processes and potentially exposing sensitive intellectual property or compliance-related data.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied content, implementing content security policies, and applying the vendor-provided patches. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 for Phishing and T1071 for Application Layer Protocol usage. Security teams should also consider network-level protections such as web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious HTML content patterns. Regular security assessments of web applications and comprehensive user input validation testing should be integrated into the development lifecycle to prevent similar vulnerabilities in future releases. The IBM X-Force ID 124524 reference indicates this vulnerability was recognized and tracked by the security community, emphasizing the need for prompt remediation to prevent exploitation.