CVE-2018-1362 in Curam Social Program Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Curam Social Program Management 6.0.5, 6.1.1, 6.2.0, and 7.0.1 within Citizen Portal could allow an authenticated user to withdraw other user's submitted applications from the system and possibly obtain privileges. IBM X-Force ID: 137380.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/01/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-1362 affects IBM Curam Social Program Management versions 6.0.5, 6.1.1, 6.2.0, and 7.0.1 within the Citizen Portal component. This issue represents a significant authorization flaw that undermines the system's integrity and access control mechanisms. The vulnerability specifically impacts the citizen portal functionality where users interact with social program management systems, creating potential risks for data manipulation and unauthorized access to sensitive information.
The technical flaw manifests as a lack of proper access controls and authorization checks within the application's withdrawal functionality. An authenticated user can exploit this weakness to withdraw applications submitted by other users, effectively bypassing the intended user boundaries and access restrictions. This represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege and demonstrates inadequate input validation and session management. The vulnerability allows for privilege escalation and unauthorized data manipulation, potentially enabling attackers to disrupt service delivery and compromise the integrity of social program applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass potential service disruption and unauthorized access to sensitive social program information. Organizations utilizing IBM Curam Social Program Management may experience unauthorized withdrawal of applications, leading to loss of submitted data and potential harm to individuals who rely on these social programs. The vulnerability creates an attack surface where malicious insiders or external attackers with legitimate credentials could exploit the system to undermine program integrity and service delivery. This risk is particularly concerning in environments where social program management systems handle sensitive personal information and financial assistance data.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates for affected versions, implementing additional access controls and monitoring for unauthorized withdrawal activities, and conducting thorough security assessments of the citizen portal functionality. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285 which addresses improper authorization issues, and represents a clear violation of the ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts for privilege escalation. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation, enhanced logging and monitoring, and regular security assessments to prevent exploitation of similar authorization flaws. The affected versions should be prioritized for immediate patching, and access controls should be reviewed and strengthened to prevent unauthorized actions within the social program management system.