CVE-2018-1694 in Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Jazz applications (IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6, IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6, IBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6, IBM Rational Quality Manager 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6, IBM Rational Rhapsody Design Manager 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6, IBM Rational Software Architect Design Manager 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.1, IBM Rational Team Concert 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6) could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the failure to properly enable HTTP Strict Transport Security. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 145609.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2023
This vulnerability resides in IBM Jazz applications across multiple Rational product lines including Collaborative Lifecycle Management, DOORS Next Generation, Engineering Lifecycle Manager, Quality Manager, Rhapsody Design Manager, Software Architect Design Manager, and Team Concert. The flaw stems from insufficient implementation of HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) headers, which creates a critical security gap in the application's communication stack. When HSTS is not properly enabled, the system fails to enforce secure HTTPS connections, leaving applications susceptible to various man-in-the-middle attacks that can intercept and potentially modify data in transit.
The technical implementation weakness manifests as a failure to include proper HSTS headers in HTTP responses, specifically the Strict-Transport-Security header that should instruct browsers to only communicate via HTTPS connections for a specified period. Without this security mechanism, attackers can exploit the HTTP protocol to perform session hijacking, credential theft, and data interception attacks. The vulnerability affects versions ranging from 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6 across the affected IBM Jazz applications, representing a significant gap in the security posture of enterprise collaboration platforms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it fundamentally undermines the security of all communication channels within these applications. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform session fixation attacks, capture sensitive user credentials, and potentially gain unauthorized access to enterprise development environments. This vulnerability directly aligns with CWE-311, which describes the absence of encryption of sensitive data, and represents a critical failure in the application's defense-in-depth strategy. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it requires no privileged access or complex exploitation techniques, making it accessible to threat actors with basic network monitoring capabilities.
Organizations utilizing these IBM Jazz applications face significant risk of data compromise and potential unauthorized access to sensitive development artifacts, requirements, and engineering data. The vulnerability creates opportunities for attackers to establish persistent access through session hijacking, which could lead to complete system compromise and intellectual property theft. Mitigation strategies must include immediate implementation of proper HSTS headers with appropriate max-age values, enforcement of HTTPS-only communication, and comprehensive network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing additional controls such as certificate pinning and regular security assessments to address the broader implications of this transport layer weakness.
The vulnerability demonstrates a classic failure in secure coding practices and highlights the importance of proper security configuration management in enterprise software platforms. This issue represents a failure to implement fundamental web application security controls that are now considered standard practice in modern security frameworks. Organizations should prioritize patching affected systems and establishing security monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts. The incident underscores the critical need for comprehensive security testing during software development lifecycle phases and proper configuration management to prevent similar vulnerabilities from manifesting in production environments.