CVE-2020-4573 in Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager 3.0.1 and 4.0 could disclose sensitive information due to responding to unauthenticated HTTP requests. IBM X-Force ID: 184180.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/06/2020
IBM Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager versions 3.0.1 and 4.0 contain a significant information disclosure vulnerability that arises from the system's improper handling of unauthenticated HTTP requests. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-200 category, which specifically addresses information exposure through improper error handling or response management. The flaw occurs when the system fails to properly authenticate incoming requests before processing them, allowing unauthorized actors to access sensitive cryptographic key management data through simple HTTP interactions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's lack of proper access controls at the HTTP request level. When unauthenticated users send specific HTTP requests to the Key Lifecycle Manager service, the system responds with detailed information about key operations, cryptographic parameters, and potentially sensitive metadata that should only be accessible to authorized administrators. This misconfiguration creates an attack surface where threat actors can gather intelligence about the cryptographic infrastructure without requiring valid credentials or authentication tokens. The vulnerability represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks, where the system assumes all incoming requests are legitimate and processes them accordingly.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it provides attackers with valuable insights into the cryptographic key management processes. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially reconstruct key usage patterns, identify cryptographic algorithms in use, and gather data about key rotation schedules. This information could significantly weaken the overall security posture by enabling more sophisticated attacks such as key recovery attempts or targeted cryptographic attacks. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely on Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager for managing sensitive cryptographic keys, as the disclosed information could be leveraged to compromise the integrity of their encryption infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network-level access controls to restrict direct exposure of the Key Lifecycle Manager service to untrusted networks. The system configuration should be reviewed to ensure that all HTTP endpoints properly validate authentication credentials before processing requests. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring to detect unusual patterns of unauthenticated requests that might indicate exploitation attempts. According to the ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability aligns with techniques related to credential access and reconnaissance, where adversaries attempt to gather information about target systems before launching more sophisticated attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper access control implementation and the potential for seemingly minor configuration flaws to create significant security risks in cryptographic systems.