CVE-2017-1700 in Jazz Team Server
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz Team Server affecting the following IBM Rational Products: Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM), Rational DOORS Next Generation (RDNG), Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager (RELM), Rational Team Concert (RTC), Rational Quality Manager (RQM), Rational Rhapsody Design Manager (Rhapsody DM), and Rational Software Architect (RSA DM) could allow an authenticated user to cause a denial of service due to incorrect authorization for resource intensive scenarios. IBM X-Force ID: 134392.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/07/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1700 represents a critical authorization flaw within IBM Jazz Team Server that affects multiple Rational products in the IBM Collaborative Lifecycle Management ecosystem. This issue stems from improper access control mechanisms that fail to adequately validate user permissions during resource-intensive operations, creating a pathway for authenticated users to exploit the system's authorization framework. The vulnerability specifically targets scenarios involving high computational demands, where the system's authorization checks become insufficient to prevent unauthorized resource consumption.
The technical implementation of this flaw manifests through inadequate validation of user privileges during intensive processing operations within the Jazz Team Server architecture. When authenticated users initiate resource-heavy tasks such as complex reporting, large-scale data synchronization, or intensive analytics operations, the system fails to properly verify whether the requesting user possesses sufficient authorization rights to consume the associated computational resources. This authorization bypass allows malicious or compromised users to exploit system resources in ways that were not intended by the access control policies, potentially leading to significant system performance degradation or complete service unavailability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions, as it creates potential for system instability and resource exhaustion that can affect multiple users simultaneously. Attackers leveraging this flaw can consume excessive CPU cycles, memory resources, and storage bandwidth through legitimate authenticated access, effectively creating a resource depletion attack that impacts the entire collaborative environment. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where multiple users perform intensive operations concurrently, as the cumulative effect of unauthorized resource consumption can overwhelm system capacity and result in cascading failures across the integrated Rational product suite.
Organizations utilizing the affected IBM Rational products face significant risks including operational disruption, decreased productivity, and potential data integrity concerns when this vulnerability is exploited. The flaw undermines the fundamental security model of the Jazz Team Server by allowing authenticated users to escalate their resource consumption beyond normal operational limits, creating conditions where legitimate users experience degraded service quality or complete access denial. This vulnerability particularly impacts collaborative development environments where resource-intensive operations are common and where the system's ability to maintain stable performance under load is critical for business operations.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive access control measures and resource monitoring within the Jazz Team Server environment. Organizations should deploy enhanced authorization validation mechanisms that properly verify user privileges before permitting resource-intensive operations, while also implementing resource usage limits and monitoring systems to detect anomalous consumption patterns. The solution approach aligns with common security practices outlined in the CWE catalog under CWE-284, which addresses improper access control issues, and follows ATT&CK framework concepts related to privilege escalation and resource consumption attacks. System administrators should also consider implementing network-level controls and user behavior analytics to detect and prevent exploitation attempts, while ensuring that all affected systems receive appropriate security updates from IBM to address the underlying authorization implementation flaws.