CVE-2018-1661 in DataPower Gateways
Summary
by MITRE
IBM DataPower Gateways 7.5, 7.5.1, 7.5.2, and 7.6 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: 144887.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/20/2023
IBM DataPower Gateways version 7.5 through 7.6 contain a cross-site request forgery vulnerability that enables attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users. This flaw exists in the web-based management interface of the DataPower appliance, which serves as a critical middleware component for API management, security, and integration services. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation in the administrative web interface, making it susceptible to malicious cross-site requests that can be initiated from compromised or malicious web pages.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to craft malicious web pages that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submit requests to the DataPower management interface. Since the appliance does not adequately verify the origin of requests or validate anti-CSRF tokens, legitimate administrative actions can be executed without proper user consent. This affects the core security model of the appliance by potentially allowing unauthorized modification of gateway configurations, creation of new users, or execution of administrative commands that should require explicit user authentication and authorization. The vulnerability impacts the integrity and confidentiality of the DataPower environment, as attackers could modify security policies, access sensitive configuration data, or disrupt service availability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on DataPower gateways for critical API management and security functions. Attackers could exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized administrative access, potentially leading to complete compromise of the gateway infrastructure and all services it protects. The vulnerability affects the principle of least privilege and could enable attackers to bypass security controls that DataPower is designed to enforce, including SSL termination, authentication, and authorization mechanisms. Organizations using DataPower for enterprise API management, hybrid cloud integration, or security policy enforcement face elevated risk of data breaches, service disruption, and regulatory compliance violations when this vulnerability exists in their environment.
Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided security patches and updates for DataPower Gateways to address this CSRF vulnerability. The remediation process involves updating the appliance firmware to versions that include proper anti-CSRF token validation and request origin verification. Security teams should also implement network segmentation to limit access to DataPower management interfaces, restrict administrative access to trusted IP addresses, and monitor for suspicious administrative activities. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for phishing attacks that could exploit this weakness. Organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments of their DataPower deployments and review access controls to ensure that administrative interfaces are not exposed to untrusted networks or users.