CVE-2018-2001 in Cram Social Program Management
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Cram Social Program Management 6.1.1, 6.2.0, 7.0.4, and 7.0.5 is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery which could allow an attacker to execute malicious and unauthorized actions transmitted from a user that the website trusts. IBM X-Force ID: 154891.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2023
IBM Cram Social Program Management versions 6.1.1, 6.2.0, 7.0.4, and 7.0.5 contain a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that enables attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users. This vulnerability falls under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery flaws in web applications. The flaw exists in the application's failure to implement proper validation of the origin of HTTP requests, allowing malicious actors to craft specially crafted requests that exploit the trust relationship between the web application and its users. When a victim visits a malicious website or clicks on a compromised link while authenticated to the vulnerable IBM Cram application, the attacker can execute unauthorized operations such as modifying user profiles, changing permissions, or performing administrative tasks without the user's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it leverages the existing authenticated session of a legitimate user, making it difficult to detect and trace back to the actual attacker. This type of vulnerability is categorized under the ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which involves credential access through social engineering and manipulation of web sessions. The impact of this CSRF vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation as it can lead to complete account compromise and potential privilege escalation within the social program management system. The affected versions of IBM Cram Social Program Management lack proper anti-CSRF tokens or other session validation mechanisms that would prevent unauthorized requests from being processed. Attackers can exploit this by embedding malicious requests within images, iframes, or other web content that automatically executes when a user visits a compromised page. The vulnerability represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security architecture where the trust model is being abused to perform actions that users did not authorize. Organizations using these vulnerable versions face significant risk of data breaches, unauthorized access to sensitive social program information, and potential disruption of business operations.
The exploitation of this CSRF vulnerability requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated through various attack vectors. Attackers typically create malicious web pages that contain hidden forms or JavaScript code designed to submit requests to the vulnerable IBM Cram application. These requests appear legitimate to the server because they contain valid session cookies and authentication tokens. The attack can be delivered through phishing campaigns, compromised websites, or even through social media platforms where users might click on malicious links. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that IBM Cram Social Program Management likely handles sensitive user data and social program information that requires strict access controls. The absence of proper CSRF protection mechanisms in these versions means that any authenticated user session can be hijacked or manipulated by attackers who understand the application's API endpoints and request patterns. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates poor implementation of web security controls that should be standard in enterprise applications. Security researchers have noted that the lack of CSRF tokens in the application's request handling process creates an inherent trust model that can be easily exploited. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning for organizations that rely on social program management systems for critical operations, as unauthorized modifications could affect program participants and compromise sensitive data integrity.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations to protect their systems and data from exploitation. The most effective immediate solution involves implementing proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms across all state-changing requests within the IBM Cram application. These tokens should be generated per session and validated on the server side to ensure that requests originate from legitimate sources within the application. The implementation should follow established security standards and best practices such as those outlined in the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet. Additionally, organizations should ensure that the application is updated to the latest available version that contains patches for this vulnerability. IBM has likely released security updates or hotfixes to address this specific CSRF flaw, and organizations should consult IBM security advisories for appropriate remediation steps. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, though they should not be relied upon as the sole mitigation strategy. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications within the organization's infrastructure. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing proper security monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts. Organizations should review their incident response procedures to ensure they can quickly identify and respond to potential CSRF attacks targeting their web applications. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of implementing comprehensive security controls in enterprise applications, particularly those handling sensitive user data and business-critical functions. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the implemented CSRF protections to ensure they do not introduce functionality issues while effectively blocking malicious requests. Regular security training for development teams can help prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future application releases.