CVE-2017-1746 in Jazz for Service Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz for Service Management (IBM Tivoli Components 1.1.3) is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery which could allow an attacker to execute malicious and unauthorized actions transmitted from a user that the website trusts. IBM X-Force ID: 135519.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/27/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-1746 affects IBM Jazz for Service Management, specifically version 1.1.3 of IBM Tivoli Components, presenting a critical cross-site request forgery flaw that undermines the application's security posture. This vulnerability resides within the web application's authentication and session management mechanisms, creating an exploitable condition where malicious actors can manipulate user sessions and execute unauthorized operations without proper authorization. The flaw operates by exploiting the absence of proper validation for request origins and lack of anti-CSRF tokens in critical application functions, allowing attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions on the vulnerable system.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the application's failure to validate the referer header or implement robust anti-CSRF token mechanisms for sensitive operations. When users navigate to malicious websites or receive crafted emails containing embedded links, they unknowingly trigger requests that leverage their existing authenticated sessions to perform administrative functions within the IBM Jazz environment. This flaw directly maps to CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities as a fundamental weakness in web application security where the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources. The vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate critical service management functions including user account modifications, service configuration changes, and potentially data manipulation within the Tivoli environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to compromise the integrity and availability of service management processes that are critical for enterprise operations. An attacker could potentially disable service management capabilities, modify user permissions, or corrupt service data, leading to significant business disruption and potential compliance violations. The attack vector requires minimal technical expertise and can be executed through social engineering techniques, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users frequently interact with external content. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which describes social engineering attacks that manipulate users into performing actions that compromise security, and T1078, which covers legitimate credential use for persistence and privilege escalation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-1746 should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms including the deployment of unique tokens for each user session, validation of referer headers, and implementation of the SameSite cookie attributes. Organizations should also enforce strict input validation and implement proper session management practices to ensure that all requests are properly authenticated and authorized. The IBM vendor has released patches and updates addressing this vulnerability, and system administrators should immediately apply these updates to prevent exploitation. Additional protective measures include network segmentation, web application firewalls, and user education programs to reduce the risk of successful social engineering attacks that leverage this CSRF vulnerability. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other enterprise applications and ensure comprehensive protection against cross-site request forgery attacks that could compromise critical service management infrastructure.