CVE-2018-1587 in Rational Rhapsody Design Manager
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Rational Rhapsody Design Manager 5.0 through 5.0.2 and 6.0 through 6.0.5 and IBM Rational Software Architect Design Manager 5.0 through 5.0.2 and 6.0 through 6.0.1 could reveal technical error messages to allow an adversary to gain information about the application and database that could be used to conduct further attacks. IBM X-Force ID: 143500.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/18/2023
This vulnerability resides in IBM Rational Rhapsody Design Manager and IBM Rational Software Architect Design Manager products where improper error handling leads to the exposure of sensitive technical information during application runtime. The flaw affects multiple versions including 5.0 through 5.0.2 and 6.0 through 6.0.5 for Rhapsody Design Manager, along with corresponding versions for Software Architect Design Manager. When the applications encounter runtime errors or exceptions, they inadvertently disclose detailed error messages containing internal system information, database connection details, and technical stack information to unauthorized users.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and error handling mechanisms within the application's codebase. When malformed inputs or unexpected conditions occur during processing, the system fails to sanitize error responses before returning them to clients. This behavior directly aligns with CWE-209, which describes the vulnerability of revealing error messages that contain sensitive information about the application environment. The exposed information typically includes stack traces, database connection strings, internal file paths, and potentially sensitive system configurations that adversaries can leverage for subsequent exploitation attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations using these design management tools as it provides attackers with valuable reconnaissance data that can inform more sophisticated attack vectors. An adversary who gains access to these technical error messages can map the application architecture, identify database schemas, and understand the underlying technology stack. This information enables attackers to craft more targeted attacks, potentially leading to unauthorized access to databases, privilege escalation, or exploitation of other vulnerabilities within the same environment. The exposure of internal system details significantly reduces the attack surface complexity and provides attackers with a roadmap for further compromise.
Organizations should implement comprehensive error handling procedures that sanitize all error messages before display to users. The recommended mitigations include implementing generic error pages that do not reveal system-specific information, configuring proper logging mechanisms to capture detailed errors internally without exposing them externally, and ensuring that all input validation occurs at multiple layers of the application architecture. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls to monitor and filter error message responses, along with regular security assessments to identify similar error handling issues across the application stack. This vulnerability exemplifies the importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1212, which covers the exploitation of system information discovery mechanisms. Organizations must also establish proper incident response procedures to handle error message exposure events and conduct regular security training for developers to prevent similar issues in future code deployments.