CVE-2018-1828 in Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management 6.0 through 6.0.6.1 is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session. IBM X-Force ID: 150431.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/08/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-1828 affects IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management versions 6.0 through 6.0.6.1, representing a critical cross-site scripting vulnerability that undermines the security posture of this enterprise-level application. This weakness exists within the web user interface component of the software, creating an attack vector that enables malicious actors to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into the application's interface. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it within the web application's response. Attackers can exploit this flaw by crafting malicious payloads that leverage the application's trust relationship with legitimate users, potentially compromising session integrity and user credentials.
The technical implementation of this cross-site scripting vulnerability falls under CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. This classification indicates that the application fails to properly validate or encode user input before incorporating it into dynamically generated web content. The operational impact extends beyond simple script execution, as the vulnerability can be leveraged to hijack user sessions and steal sensitive authentication tokens or credentials. When a victim interacts with the compromised application, the injected JavaScript code executes within the context of their authenticated session, potentially enabling attackers to perform actions as the legitimate user. This type of attack aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers credential harvesting through social engineering and web-based attacks.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal technical sophistication and can be executed through various attack vectors including phishing campaigns or direct injection into application forms and parameters. IBM's X-Force ID 150431 confirms the severity of this weakness, indicating that it represents a significant risk to organizations utilizing this collaborative lifecycle management platform. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where multiple users collaborate on software development projects, as it could enable attackers to access sensitive project data, modify development workflows, or escalate privileges within the application. Organizations using this version range of IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management should immediately assess their deployment configurations and implement appropriate mitigations to protect against potential exploitation attempts.
Mitigation strategies should include implementing comprehensive input validation mechanisms, deploying proper output encoding for all user-supplied data, and applying the latest security patches released by IBM. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to detect and prevent injection attempts. Additionally, regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the application's codebase. The remediation process must involve updating to patched versions of the software while maintaining proper network segmentation and user access controls to minimize the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts.