CVE-2018-1504 in i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis
Summary
by MITRE
IBM i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis 2.1.7 could allow a remote attacker to hijack the clicking action of the victim. By persuading a victim to visit a malicious Web site, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to hijack the victim's click actions and possibly launch further attacks against the victim. IBM X-Force ID: 141340.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2023
This vulnerability in IBM i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis 2.1.7 represents a sophisticated cross-site scripting attack vector that enables remote code execution through click hijacking mechanisms. The flaw allows attackers to manipulate user interactions by intercepting and redirecting click events that occur within the application's web interface. This type of vulnerability falls under the broader category of user interface redressing attacks and clickjacking techniques that have been documented in various security frameworks including the CWE database under category CWE-200 for information exposure and CWE-352 for cross-site request forgery. The vulnerability specifically targets the web-based components of the enterprise insight analysis platform, which typically provides business intelligence and data visualization capabilities to security analysts and enterprise users.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the application's failure to properly validate and sanitize user input within its web interface components. When users navigate to malicious web pages that are crafted to exploit this vulnerability, the attacker can manipulate the DOM (Document Object Model) to intercept click events that should be directed to legitimate application elements. This allows the attacker to redirect user interactions to malicious endpoints while maintaining the appearance of normal application behavior. The attack leverages the trust relationship between the user and the application, making it particularly dangerous as users may unknowingly interact with malicious content while believing they are performing legitimate operations within the application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple session hijacking to potentially enable more complex attack chains that could lead to full system compromise. Once an attacker has hijacked click actions, they can manipulate user interactions to perform actions such as data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or redirection to phishing sites that appear legitimate to the user. The attack requires minimal user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website, making it particularly effective for social engineering campaigns. From an enterprise security perspective, this vulnerability represents a significant risk to organizations that rely on i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis for critical business intelligence and security analysis functions. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the sensitive nature of the data typically processed by such applications, which may include threat intelligence, security incident data, and business-critical information.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability including immediate patching of affected systems to address the underlying click hijacking mechanism. Network segmentation and web application firewalls should be configured to monitor and block suspicious traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Browser security settings should be enhanced with content security policies that prevent unauthorized frame embedding and click hijacking operations. Regular security awareness training for users should emphasize the dangers of visiting untrusted websites and the importance of verifying website authenticity before interacting with web applications. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components and ensure proper input validation and output encoding practices are implemented throughout their application architecture. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security controls and the need for comprehensive security testing that includes user interaction and session management validation as outlined in industry standards such as the OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity frameworks.