CVE-2018-18813 in Spotfire Server
Summary
by MITRE
The Spotfire web server component of TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO Spotfire Analytics Platform for AWS Marketplace, and TIBCO Spotfire Server contains multiple vulnerabilities that may allow persistent and reflected cross-site scripting attacks. Affected releases are TIBCO Software Inc. TIBCO Spotfire Analytics Platform for AWS Marketplace: versions up to and including 10.0.0, and TIBCO Spotfire Server: versions up to and including 7.10.1; 7.11.0; 7.11.1; 7.12.0; 7.13.0; 7.14.0; 10.0.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/01/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-18813 affects the Spotfire web server component within TIBCO Software Inc.'s analytics platform, specifically targeting the web interface that serves as the primary attack surface for malicious actors. This issue manifests as multiple cross-site scripting vulnerabilities that can be exploited through both persistent and reflected attack vectors, making it particularly dangerous for organizations relying on the platform for business intelligence and data analysis. The affected versions span across multiple release lines including the AWS Marketplace edition up to 10.0.0 and various server versions up to 10.0.0, indicating a widespread impact across the product's lifecycle.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the web server's handling of user-supplied data. When users interact with the platform through web interfaces, malicious input can be processed and returned without proper sanitization, creating opportunities for attackers to inject malicious scripts. This vulnerability falls under CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments or links. The persistent nature of the vulnerability means that malicious scripts can be stored on the server and executed whenever affected pages are loaded, while reflected attacks occur when malicious input is immediately reflected back in the response without proper encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to steal user sessions, modify data displayed to other users, or redirect victims to malicious sites. Organizations using TIBCO Spotfire Analytics Platform face potential data breaches, unauthorized access to sensitive business intelligence, and possible system compromise through session hijacking attacks. The vulnerability's presence in AWS Marketplace versions indicates that cloud deployments are equally at risk, potentially affecting organizations that have migrated their analytics workloads to cloud environments. Security teams must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability within their attack surface analysis, particularly when evaluating the security posture of business intelligence platforms that handle sensitive organizational data.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected versions to address the input validation deficiencies that enable the cross-site scripting attacks. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization measures and output encoding controls to prevent malicious data from being processed through the web server components. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional layers of protection by monitoring and filtering traffic to and from the vulnerable web interfaces. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual patterns of script injection attempts, particularly targeting the specific endpoints and parameters associated with the affected TIBCO Spotfire components. Regular security assessments of web applications should include testing for similar input validation vulnerabilities, and organizations should establish incident response procedures specifically addressing cross-site scripting incidents that could affect business intelligence platforms.