CVE-2017-1764 in Cognos Business Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10.2, 10.2.1, 10.2.1.1, and 10.2.2, under specialized circumstances, could expose plain text credentials to a local user. IBM X-Force ID: 136149.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2024
IBM Cognos Business Intelligence versions 10.2 through 10.2.2 contain a security vulnerability that allows local users to potentially access plain text credentials under specific conditions. This vulnerability falls under the category of information disclosure and represents a significant risk to system security. The flaw occurs when the system fails to properly secure credential storage mechanisms, enabling unauthorized local access to sensitive authentication data that should remain protected. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the local user level, meaning that an attacker with local system access could exploit this weakness to obtain clear text passwords or authentication tokens. This issue directly relates to CWE-255 Credentials Management Vulnerability, which encompasses improper handling of authentication credentials. The exposure of plain text credentials creates a substantial attack surface that could enable privilege escalation or lateral movement within a network environment. The vulnerability is classified as a local information disclosure issue, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1003.001 Credential Dumping, where adversaries seek to obtain credentials from local system storage. IBM has identified this as a specialized circumstance vulnerability, suggesting that the conditions required for exploitation are not common but do exist in certain deployment configurations. The risk is elevated when the system is not properly hardened or when multiple users share the same system environment. Organizations using these specific versions of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence should consider the potential for credential exposure as part of their overall security posture assessment. The vulnerability impacts the integrity and confidentiality of authentication mechanisms, potentially allowing unauthorized access to business intelligence systems and associated data sources. This weakness creates opportunities for attackers to leverage stolen credentials for further exploitation, including access to underlying databases and other connected systems. The IBM X-Force ID 136149 indicates that this vulnerability was properly catalogued and tracked within the security community. The affected versions represent a specific release cycle that required immediate attention and patching to prevent exploitation. Security professionals should evaluate their deployment environments to identify systems running these vulnerable versions and implement appropriate mitigations. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper credential handling and storage practices in enterprise business intelligence platforms. Organizations should implement additional access controls and monitoring to detect potential credential exposure attempts. The issue highlights the critical need for regular security updates and patch management processes, particularly for business intelligence and analytics platforms that handle sensitive organizational data. Proper configuration management and system hardening practices can help reduce the risk of exploitation. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the potential security implications when authentication mechanisms are not properly secured at the local system level. Remediation efforts should focus on applying the appropriate IBM patches and updates while implementing additional security controls to protect against credential exposure attacks. System administrators should also consider implementing credential rotation procedures and monitoring for unusual access patterns that might indicate credential theft attempts.