CVE-2017-1311 in Insights Foundation for Energy
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Insights Foundation for Energy 2.0 is vulnerable to SQL injection. A remote attacker could send specially-crafted SQL statements, which could allow the attacker to view, add, modify or delete information in the back-end database. IBM X-Force ID: 125719.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/15/2021
IBM Insights Foundation for Energy version 2.0 contains a critical sql injection vulnerability that exposes the underlying database to unauthorized access and manipulation. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within the application's database interaction components, allowing malicious actors to inject arbitrary sql commands through improperly validated user inputs. The flaw exists in the application's handling of database queries where user-supplied data is directly concatenated into sql statements without proper escaping or parameterization mechanisms.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows standard sql injection attack patterns where an attacker crafts malicious input that alters the intended sql query execution flow. When the application processes user inputs through web forms, api endpoints, or parameterized requests, the absence of proper input validation allows attackers to inject sql payloads that can manipulate the database structure or extract sensitive information. This vulnerability specifically affects the backend database operations within the energy insights platform, potentially compromising operational data, user credentials, and business-critical information stored within the system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft to include complete database compromise and potential system disruption. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to perform unauthorized data modification, deletion of critical operational records, or extraction of sensitive information including user accounts, system configurations, and energy consumption data. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation can occur from any location without requiring physical access to the network, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous for industrial control systems and energy management platforms. According to industry standards, this vulnerability maps to cwe-89 sql injection, which is classified as a high-risk vulnerability category in the common weakness enumeration database.
Organizations utilizing IBM Insights Foundation for Energy 2.0 should implement immediate mitigations including input validation, parameterized queries, and web application firewalls to prevent unauthorized database access. The recommended approach involves implementing proper sql injection prevention techniques such as using prepared statements, input sanitization, and output encoding to ensure that user-supplied data cannot be interpreted as sql commands. Additionally, regular security assessments, database access logging, and network segmentation should be implemented to reduce the attack surface and detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with attack techniques documented in the attack tree framework, particularly those targeting application layer vulnerabilities in industrial control systems. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring solutions to detect anomalous sql query patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.