CVE-2017-1266 in Security Guardium
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Security Guardium 10.0 specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors. IBM X-Force ID: 124741.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/27/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1266 affects IBM Security Guardium version 10.0, a database security solution designed to monitor and protect sensitive data within enterprise environments. This weakness represents a critical misconfiguration in the system's access control mechanisms that directly compromises the confidentiality and integrity of security-critical resources. The flaw manifests when the application fails to properly enforce authorization controls, allowing unauthorized users to gain access to protected database monitoring components that should only be accessible to privileged administrators.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper permission assignment within the Guardium security framework, creating a path for privilege escalation and unauthorized data access. The system's resource access controls are inadequately configured, enabling actors with minimal privileges to read or modify security-critical components that contain sensitive monitoring data, configuration parameters, and administrative functions. This misconfiguration aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control vulnerabilities where systems fail to properly enforce authorization mechanisms. The flaw essentially creates a backdoor through which malicious users can bypass normal security boundaries and access resources that should remain protected from unauthorized modification or disclosure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, as it fundamentally undermines the security posture of organizations relying on IBM Security Guardium for database protection. Attackers who exploit this weakness can potentially access detailed monitoring information about database activities, extract sensitive configuration data, and modify security policies that govern the protection of critical information assets. This capability allows for persistent unauthorized access to database monitoring functions, potentially enabling attackers to hide their activities from normal security controls while gaining deeper insights into the target environment. The vulnerability affects the core security functionality of the system, essentially allowing attackers to compromise the very tools designed to protect the organization's data infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including thorough review and correction of access control configurations, enforcement of least privilege principles, and verification of proper permission settings for all security-critical resources. The remediation process should involve comprehensive access control audits to ensure that only authorized administrators can access sensitive system components. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring controls to detect unauthorized access attempts to security-critical resources. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control implementation and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and privilege escalation. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar misconfigurations in other security tools and systems, as this type of access control flaw can be present in various enterprise security solutions. Organizations should also ensure that their security monitoring systems are properly configured to detect and alert on unauthorized access attempts to critical system resources.