CVE-2017-1570 in Jazz Foundation
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz Foundation products could allow an authenticated user to obtain sensitive information from stack traces. IBM X-Force ID: 131852.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1570 affects IBM Jazz Foundation products and represents a significant information disclosure flaw that could be exploited by authenticated attackers. This vulnerability stems from improper error handling mechanisms within the application's stack trace generation and reporting processes. The flaw allows an authenticated user to access sensitive information that would typically be contained within stack traces, potentially exposing internal system details, file paths, and other confidential data that should remain hidden from end users. Such information disclosure vulnerabilities are particularly concerning because they can provide attackers with valuable insights into the application's architecture and internal workings, facilitating more sophisticated attack vectors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the application's failure to properly sanitize or filter stack trace information before presenting it to authenticated users. When certain operations within the Jazz Foundation products encounter errors, the system generates stack traces that contain detailed technical information about the application's execution environment. These stack traces often include sensitive elements such as absolute file paths, database connection strings, internal variable names, and other system-specific details that should not be exposed to users. The vulnerability manifests when authenticated users can trigger error conditions or access error pages that display these unfiltered stack traces, thereby compromising system confidentiality and potentially enabling further exploitation attempts.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a substantial risk for organizations using IBM Jazz Foundation products as it provides attackers with detailed information about the underlying system architecture. The exposure of stack traces can reveal critical system information including the application server type, version numbers, file system structure, and potentially database connection details. This information can be leveraged by threat actors to plan more targeted attacks, such as exploiting known vulnerabilities in specific versions of the application server or database systems. The authenticated nature of the vulnerability means that attackers would need valid credentials, but this requirement is often achievable through various social engineering, credential theft, or other attack vectors that are commonly successful in enterprise environments.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-209, which specifically addresses "Information Exposure Through an Error Message," and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1083, Information Discovery, as it enables adversaries to gather system information. Organizations should implement proper error handling mechanisms that prevent sensitive information from being exposed in error messages or stack traces. The recommended mitigations include implementing comprehensive error handling that sanitizes stack trace information before display, ensuring that all error messages only contain generic information, and implementing proper logging mechanisms that capture detailed error information internally while presenting only non-sensitive data to end users. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular security testing to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in their application code and ensure that authentication mechanisms are properly enforced to limit access to sensitive error information.
Organizations utilizing IBM Jazz Foundation products should prioritize patching this vulnerability through official IBM security updates and implement additional defensive measures such as web application firewalls that can detect and block attempts to access error pages. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and error handling in application security, as even authenticated access can provide attackers with significant information that can be used for further exploitation. Regular security awareness training for developers should emphasize the importance of secure coding practices and proper error handling to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced into application code during development phases.