CVE-2017-1251 in Collaborative Lifecycle Management
Summary
by MITRE
An undisclosed vulnerability in CLM applications may result in some administrative deployment parameters being shown to an attacker. IBM X-Force ID: 124631.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1251 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within CLM applications that could potentially expose sensitive administrative deployment parameters to unauthorized attackers. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of information exposure weaknesses that can significantly compromise the security posture of enterprise systems. The disclosure of administrative deployment parameters creates a substantial risk as these details often contain configuration settings, credential information, or system-specific parameters that could be leveraged by threat actors to gain deeper access to the affected environment. The vulnerability's classification as undisclosed initially suggests that the specific technical details were not publicly available at the time of discovery, which is common with early-stage vulnerability reports that require further analysis and validation.
The technical flaw associated with CVE-2017-1251 stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization within the CLM application's administrative interfaces. When administrative deployment parameters are processed and displayed, the system fails to properly restrict or encode sensitive information, allowing attackers to potentially access or extract configuration data that should remain protected. This type of vulnerability typically manifests when applications do not implement proper access controls or data filtering mechanisms for administrative functions, creating opportunities for information leakage through various attack vectors including direct parameter manipulation, cross-site scripting exploitation, or improper error handling. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning because administrative deployment parameters often contain system credentials, database connection strings, or other sensitive configuration data that could enable attackers to escalate their privileges or compromise the entire system infrastructure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it creates multiple attack vectors that could lead to more severe security incidents. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially gain unauthorized access to administrative functions, manipulate system configurations, or use the disclosed parameters to conduct further reconnaissance activities. The exposure of deployment parameters could enable attackers to identify system components, understand the application architecture, and develop targeted attacks against specific system elements. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which specifically addresses "Information Exposure," and could potentially be leveraged to support techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under Initial Access and Credential Access phases. The vulnerability's exploitation could lead to privilege escalation, data breaches, or complete system compromise depending on the sensitivity of the disclosed administrative parameters and the overall system architecture.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-1251 should focus on implementing robust input validation, output encoding, and access control mechanisms within the CLM application's administrative interfaces. Organizations should ensure that administrative deployment parameters are properly sanitized before display, implement role-based access controls to limit who can view sensitive configuration data, and establish proper logging and monitoring for administrative activities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following security best practices such as the principle of least privilege, where administrative functions should only be accessible to authorized personnel with legitimate business requirements. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar information disclosure vulnerabilities within the application stack, while also ensuring that proper security patches and updates are applied to address known vulnerabilities in the CLM applications. Additionally, implementing network segmentation and monitoring for unusual administrative access patterns can help detect potential exploitation attempts and minimize the impact of such vulnerabilities on the overall security posture.