CVE-2018-1672 in WebSphere Portal
Summary
by MITRE
IBM WebSphere Portal 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 may fail to set the correct user context in certain impersonation scenarios, which can allow a user to act with the identity of a different user. IBM X-Force ID: 144958.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2023
This vulnerability in IBM WebSphere Portal affects versions 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 where the system fails to properly establish user context during impersonation operations. The flaw represents a critical authorization bypass issue that allows authenticated users to potentially escalate their privileges by acting as other users within the portal environment. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-285 category of Improper Authorization, specifically relating to insufficient user context handling during privilege escalation scenarios. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it directly impacts the core security model of the portal system where user identity management is fundamental to access control.
The technical implementation issue occurs when the portal system processes user impersonation requests, failing to properly validate or establish the target user context. This misconfiguration allows an attacker with appropriate privileges to manipulate the user session and execute operations under another user's identity without proper authorization checks. The flaw manifests during specific impersonation workflows where the system should enforce strict context validation but instead permits the operation to proceed with incorrect user credentials or session data. This behavior creates a path for privilege escalation attacks that can potentially lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, administrative functions, or other users' resources within the portal environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access as it can enable comprehensive account takeover scenarios. An attacker could potentially impersonate high-privilege users such as administrators or content managers, gaining access to restricted portal features, sensitive documents, or administrative controls. This vulnerability directly affects the portal's ability to maintain proper security boundaries between different user roles and can compromise the integrity of the entire portal ecosystem. The issue is particularly dangerous in environments where the portal serves as a central access point for enterprise applications, as it could provide a foothold for further attacks or lateral movement within the network infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant IBM security patches and updates released for this vulnerability, which address the user context handling mechanisms in the impersonation workflows. Additional defensive measures include implementing strict access controls for impersonation functions, monitoring user activity logs for suspicious impersonation patterns, and conducting regular security assessments of the portal environment. Security teams should also consider implementing network segmentation and additional authentication controls for privileged impersonation operations. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1550.001 for use of valid credentials and T1078 for valid accounts, making it a significant concern for organizations following standard cybersecurity frameworks. The recommended remediation approach includes both immediate patching and long-term security hardening measures to prevent similar context management issues in other portal components.