CVE-2019-4722 in Cognos Analytics
Summary
by MITRE • 06/02/2021
IBM Cognos Analytics 11.0 and 11.1 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via a stack trace due to mishandling of certain error conditions. IBM X-Force ID: 172128.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/03/2021
IBM Cognos Analytics version 11.0 and 11.1 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information through exposure of stack traces during error handling. This flaw occurs when the system fails to properly manage certain error conditions, resulting in the disclosure of internal system information that could aid malicious actors in understanding the application architecture and identifying potential attack vectors. The vulnerability represents a classic information disclosure weakness that can significantly compromise system security posture.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper error handling mechanisms within the IBM Cognos Analytics framework. When specific error conditions are encountered during system operation, the application does not sanitize error messages appropriately before returning responses to clients. This misconfiguration leads to stack trace information being exposed to remote attackers who can then analyze the detailed error output to understand internal application structure, component interactions, and potentially identify other vulnerabilities within the system. The flaw aligns with CWE-209, which specifically addresses improper handling of exceptions and error conditions that lead to information exposure.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations using affected IBM Cognos Analytics versions. Attackers who exploit this weakness can gain valuable intelligence about the system's internal workings including file paths, component names, and potentially sensitive data structures. This information can be leveraged to plan more sophisticated attacks targeting other system components or to exploit additional vulnerabilities that may exist within the same application framework. The exposure of stack traces can also reveal version information and internal implementation details that would otherwise remain hidden from external parties.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to patched versions of IBM Cognos Analytics, implementing proper error handling mechanisms that do not expose internal system information, and configuring the application to return generic error messages to users while logging detailed errors internally for administrators. Network segmentation and access controls should be reinforced to limit potential attack surfaces, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar error handling issues within other applications. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper error management in web applications and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1212, which covers exploitation of information disclosure vulnerabilities. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure that error handling changes do not negatively impact legitimate system operations while effectively preventing information exposure to unauthorized parties.