CVE-2018-1896 in Connections
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Connections 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 is vulnerable to possible host header injection attack that could cause navigation to the attacker's domain. IBM X-Force ID: 152456.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2023
IBM Connections versions 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 contain a host header injection vulnerability that allows attackers to manipulate the Host header in HTTP requests to redirect navigation to malicious domains. This flaw falls under CWE-601 URL Redirection to Untrusted Site Attack, where the application fails to properly validate or sanitize host header values before using them in redirects or authentication flows. The vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation mechanisms that permit untrusted host header values to be processed without proper sanitization, enabling attackers to inject malicious host values that can be interpreted by the application's redirect logic. The attack vector specifically targets the HTTP Host header parameter which is commonly used by web applications for constructing absolute URLs, generating authentication tokens, or performing redirect operations. When an attacker crafts a malicious HTTP request with a forged Host header value, the vulnerable IBM Connections application processes this header without adequate validation, potentially causing the application to redirect users to attacker-controlled domains or generate links pointing to malicious sites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple redirection attacks as it can enable more sophisticated attack chains including phishing campaigns, credential theft through manipulated authentication redirects, and session hijacking attempts. Attackers can exploit this weakness to create convincing fake login pages that appear legitimate to users, leveraging the application's own redirect mechanisms to establish trust with victims. The vulnerability affects the core authentication and navigation components of IBM Connections, potentially compromising user sessions and sensitive corporate data stored within the platform. This weakness directly relates to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment, where attackers can use the host header injection to craft convincing phishing emails that appear to originate from legitimate IBM Connections domains. The vulnerability represents a critical security gap in the application's input handling and can be exploited by attackers with minimal privileges to manipulate the application's behavior and potentially gain unauthorized access to user accounts or sensitive information.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including input validation for Host headers, implementation of strict header sanitization rules, and deployment of web application firewalls to filter malicious host header values. The recommended approach involves configuring the application to validate Host header values against a predefined whitelist of trusted domains or implementing strict validation logic that rejects any host header values that do not match the expected domain patterns. Additional protective measures include enabling secure redirect handling mechanisms, implementing proper header validation middleware, and conducting thorough security testing of all HTTP request processing components. Organizations should also consider deploying network-level controls to monitor and filter suspicious Host header values, as well as implementing comprehensive logging and monitoring for any unauthorized redirection attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices and input validation standards as outlined in OWASP Top Ten and ISO 27001 security requirements. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications and ensure that all HTTP request processing components properly validate and sanitize input parameters to prevent similar host header injection attacks from compromising application security and user trust.