CVE-2017-1769 in Business Process Manager
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Business Process Manager 8.6 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: 136783.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/01/2021
IBM Business Process Manager version 8.6 contains a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that enables attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users. This weakness resides in the web application's failure to properly validate and authenticate request origins, allowing malicious actors to exploit the trust relationship between the application and its users. The vulnerability specifically affects the administrative and operational interfaces of the business process management platform, where users with legitimate credentials can be tricked into executing unintended commands through carefully crafted malicious requests.
The technical flaw manifests when the application processes HTTP requests without implementing proper anti-CSRF tokens or origin validation mechanisms. Attackers can construct malicious web pages or send specially crafted emails containing links that, when clicked by an authenticated user, automatically submit requests to the IBM BPM application. These requests appear legitimate to the server because they contain valid session cookies and authentication tokens, but they execute unintended operations such as creating new user accounts, modifying process definitions, or accessing restricted administrative functions. The vulnerability stems from the application's reliance on cookie-based authentication without additional request integrity checks, creating a dangerous trust model that can be easily exploited.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations using IBM Business Process Manager 8.6, as it allows attackers to gain unauthorized access to critical business process management functionalities. Successful exploitation could lead to complete compromise of the business process management environment, enabling attackers to modify or delete process definitions, create backdoor accounts, or extract sensitive business data. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires minimal user interaction beyond simply clicking a malicious link, making it highly effective for social engineering campaigns. Organizations may experience unauthorized process modifications that could disrupt business operations, data integrity issues, or potential compliance violations depending on their industry requirements.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including the deployment of anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations within the IBM BPM application, proper implementation of origin validation checks, and enhanced session management controls. The recommended approach involves configuring the application to validate request origins and implement unique tokens for each user session that must be present in every request. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious request patterns, while conducting thorough security assessments of the business process management environment. Additionally, organizations should ensure that all users receive security awareness training to recognize potential social engineering attempts that could exploit this vulnerability. This remediation strategy aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities, and follows ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential access through social engineering. The vulnerability also relates to CWE-613, which deals with insufficient session expiration, and should be addressed through comprehensive session management policies that include proper token handling and request validation mechanisms.