CVE-2018-1738 in Security Key Lifecycle Manager
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager 2.6, 2.7, 3.0 could allow an authenticated user to obtain highly sensitive information or jeopardize system integrity due to improper authentication mechanisms. IBM X-Force ID: 147907.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/25/2023
IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager versions 2.6, 2.7, and 3.0 contain a critical vulnerability that stems from improper authentication mechanisms, creating a significant risk for authenticated users who can exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to highly sensitive information or compromise system integrity. This vulnerability represents a fundamental flaw in the authentication architecture that allows attackers with legitimate credentials to escalate their privileges or access data they should not be authorized to view. The issue manifests through insufficient validation of authentication tokens and session management processes that fail to properly verify user identities or maintain secure access controls throughout the application lifecycle.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which addresses improper authentication flaws that enable attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms or exploit weak authentication processes. The affected IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager systems fail to adequately validate authentication states, allowing authenticated users to potentially access sensitive cryptographic key data, system configuration information, or operational details that should remain restricted to authorized personnel only. This weakness particularly impacts the integrity and confidentiality of cryptographic key management operations where the system is responsible for securely handling sensitive cryptographic material and maintaining proper access controls.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses severe risks to organizations relying on IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager for cryptographic key management. Attackers who successfully exploit this flaw can potentially compromise the entire key infrastructure, leading to unauthorized access to encrypted data, system manipulation, and potential data breaches. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure as the compromised authentication mechanisms can enable attackers to manipulate key lifecycle operations, potentially leading to key rotation failures, unauthorized key generation, or complete system compromise. Organizations using these vulnerable versions face significant risks to their cryptographic security posture and overall system integrity.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager versions to the latest available releases that address the authentication mechanism flaws. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring and logging of authentication events to detect potential exploitation attempts, while reviewing and strengthening access controls for key management operations. Security teams should consider implementing network segmentation and additional authentication layers to limit the impact if authentication bypass occurs. The remediation process must include comprehensive testing of authentication mechanisms and validation of access controls to ensure that the vulnerability has been properly addressed. This vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper authentication implementation in cryptographic systems and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and privilege escalation, emphasizing the need for robust authentication controls in security-critical applications.