CVE-2020-4306 in Planning Analytics
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Planning Analytics Local 2.0.0 through 2.0.9 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: 176735.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2020
IBM Planning Analytics Local versions 2.0.0 through 2.0.9 contains a cross-site scripting vulnerability that enables attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into the web user interface. This flaw exists due to insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's web components. The vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting attacks where untrusted data is improperly handled in web applications. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious payloads that get executed in the context of authenticated users' browsers, potentially compromising the security of trusted sessions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it allows for credential disclosure within trusted sessions, representing a critical security risk for organizations using IBM Planning Analytics Local. When authenticated users interact with the vulnerable application, their session cookies and other sensitive information could be exfiltrated to attacker-controlled domains. This type of attack aligns with ATT&CK technique T1539 which focuses on credential access through web application attacks. The vulnerability enables attackers to establish persistent access to the application with the privileges of legitimate users, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal prerequisites as it leverages existing authentication mechanisms within the application. Attackers typically need only to convince a victim user to click on a malicious link or visit a compromised webpage that contains the injected JavaScript payload. The vulnerability affects the web UI components where user input is not properly sanitized before being rendered back to the browser, creating an injection point for malicious scripts. This particular weakness represents a classic DOM-based XSS attack vector where the malicious code executes in the victim's browser context without requiring server-side processing.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest security patches from IBM as soon as they become available. Input validation controls should be strengthened to sanitize all user-supplied data before rendering in web interfaces. Output encoding mechanisms must be enhanced to properly escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth layers to detect and block suspicious traffic patterns. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining current security awareness training for users to recognize potentially malicious links and content that could exploit such XSS weaknesses.