CVE-2017-1412 in Security Identity Governance Virtual Appliance
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Security Identity Governance Virtual Appliance 5.2 through 5.2.3.2 generates an error message that includes sensitive information about its environment, users, or associated data. IBM X-Force ID: 127400.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/01/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1412 affects IBM Security Identity Governance Virtual Appliance versions 5.2 through 5.2.3.2, representing a classic information disclosure flaw that exposes sensitive environmental data through error messages. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of insecure error handling practices that can provide attackers with valuable reconnaissance information about the target system. The flaw demonstrates how seemingly minor implementation issues can create significant security risks by inadvertently revealing system internals to unauthorized parties.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the appliance's improper error handling mechanism that includes sensitive data within error messages generated during system operations. When the virtual appliance encounters certain conditions or fails to process requests properly, it returns error responses that contain detailed information about the underlying environment, user accounts, or associated data structures. This behavior violates fundamental security principles that dictate error messages should be generic and not reveal system internals to prevent attackers from gaining insights into the system architecture and user base.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations deploying the affected IBM Security Identity Governance Virtual Appliance. Attackers who can access these error messages gain access to information that could facilitate more sophisticated attacks, including user enumeration, system architecture mapping, and potential credential harvesting. The exposure of user-related data through error messages directly impacts the principle of least privilege and can enable targeted social engineering attacks or brute force attempts against identified accounts. This vulnerability particularly affects identity governance environments where user data protection is paramount, as it undermines the very foundation of identity management systems.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses "Information Exposure," and represents a specific instance of how error handling can create security weaknesses in enterprise applications. From an attack framework perspective, this flaw maps to techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the Information Gathering and Credential Access phases, where adversaries seek to understand system configurations and identify potential targets for further exploitation. Organizations should consider this vulnerability as part of a broader attack surface assessment, particularly when evaluating identity and access management systems that may be exposed to external threats.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including configuring the appliance to return generic error messages that do not contain sensitive information, implementing proper input validation to prevent error conditions that trigger sensitive output, and establishing monitoring procedures to detect unusual error message patterns. The recommended approach involves updating to the latest available patches from IBM Security, which typically address such information disclosure issues by modifying error handling routines to sanitize output before presentation. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of the vulnerable appliance to untrusted networks, while regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other systems within the environment.