CVE-2017-1280 in Rational Quality Manager
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Rational Quality Manager and IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management 5.0 through 5.0.2 and 6.0 through 6.0.5 are vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session. IBM X-Force ID: 124758.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/03/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1280 affects IBM Rational Quality Manager and IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management versions 5.0 through 5.0.2 and 6.0 through 6.0.5, representing a critical cross-site scripting flaw that undermines the security posture of these enterprise quality management platforms. This vulnerability resides in the web user interface component of the applications, where insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it within web pages. The flaw enables attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code through crafted input fields, which then executes in the context of other users' sessions when they view the affected content.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate sanitization of user inputs within the web application's rendering pipeline, specifically affecting parameters that are directly reflected in HTML output without proper context-aware encoding. This weakness allows malicious actors to construct payloads that can manipulate the application's behavior and potentially compromise user sessions. When users interact with compromised content, the injected JavaScript executes within their browser context, leveraging the trust relationship that exists between the user and the application. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws where web applications fail to properly validate or encode user-controllable data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it creates opportunities for session hijacking and credential theft within trusted user sessions. An attacker could craft malicious payloads that capture session cookies, steal authentication tokens, or redirect users to malicious sites that appear to be legitimate parts of the application. The attack surface is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where these tools are used for quality management and collaborative development processes, as compromised sessions could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive project data, test results, and development artifacts. The vulnerability affects both versions 5.0 through 5.0.2 and 6.0 through 6.0.5, indicating it was present across multiple release streams and likely represents a fundamental design flaw in the input handling mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems with the vendor-provided security updates, while implementing additional defensive measures such as input validation at multiple layers and output encoding for all user-supplied content. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious input patterns, along with comprehensive monitoring of user session activities for signs of unauthorized access or credential theft. The vulnerability's presence in both major release versions underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and conducting regular security assessments of enterprise applications. This flaw demonstrates the critical need for robust input validation and output encoding practices throughout the application development lifecycle, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for script injection and T1531 for credential access through session hijacking.