CVE-2018-1370 in Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence (SonarG) 3.1 specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors. IBM X-Force ID: 137769.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/17/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-1370 affects IBM Security Guardium Big Data Intelligence SonarG version 3.1, representing a critical access control flaw that undermines the security posture of sensitive data processing environments. This issue stems from improper permission configuration for security-critical resources within the system architecture, creating pathways for unauthorized entities to gain access to protected information. The flaw specifically impacts the SonarG component of IBM Security Guardium, which is designed to provide big data intelligence capabilities for security monitoring and threat detection in enterprise environments. The vulnerability allows actors who should not have access to certain resources to read or modify them, fundamentally compromising the integrity and confidentiality of the security infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through inadequate privilege management within the SonarG system, where security-critical resources are not properly isolated from unauthorized users. This misconfiguration creates a scenario where legitimate security controls fail to enforce proper access boundaries, enabling malicious actors or compromised legitimate users to escalate their privileges and access sensitive data or system components. The flaw operates at the authorization level of the security model, where the system fails to correctly validate user permissions against resource access requests. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control scenarios where systems fail to properly enforce access restrictions for security-critical resources. The vulnerability exists in the permission specification mechanism, where the system does not adequately enforce mandatory access controls or role-based access controls that should normally prevent unauthorized access to sensitive components.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, potentially enabling attackers to compromise the entire security monitoring infrastructure. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could gain access to sensitive security intelligence data, manipulate detection rules, or even modify the behavior of the security monitoring system itself. This creates a cascading effect where the compromised system becomes less effective at protecting the organization, potentially allowing other attacks to go undetected or enabling attackers to establish persistent access within the environment. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments that rely on Guardium SonarG for comprehensive security intelligence, as the compromise of this system could lead to complete loss of security monitoring capabilities. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1068, which involves exploiting legitimate credentials to gain access to systems, and T1566, which covers social engineering techniques that could be used to escalate privileges within the compromised system.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including verifying and correcting access control configurations for all security-critical resources within the SonarG system, implementing network segmentation to isolate the security monitoring infrastructure, and conducting comprehensive access control reviews to ensure proper privilege allocation. The recommended approach involves applying the vendor-provided security patches and updates, while also implementing additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized access attempts to security-critical resources. Security teams should perform thorough audits of permission settings across all components of the Guardium system, ensuring that access controls follow the principle of least privilege. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as file integrity monitoring, privileged access management solutions, and enhanced logging to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper access control implementation in security infrastructure components, emphasizing that even security tools themselves require robust access controls to prevent exploitation by unauthorized actors.