CVE-2020-4779 in Curam Social Program Management
Summary
by MITRE • 10/12/2020
A HTTP Verb Tampering vulnerability may impact IBM Curam Social Program Management 7.0.9 and 7.0.10. By sending a specially-crafted request, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to bypass security access controls. IBM X-Force ID: 189156.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/27/2023
The HTTP Verb Tampering vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-4779 represents a critical security flaw in IBM Curam Social Program Management versions 7.0.9 and 7.0.10. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of insecure direct object references and weak access control mechanisms, which are commonly classified as CWE-285 in the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The vulnerability stems from the application's improper handling of HTTP methods during request processing, allowing malicious actors to manipulate the HTTP verb used in requests. This weakness creates an avenue for privilege escalation and unauthorized access to restricted resources within the social program management system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs when the application fails to properly validate or enforce the HTTP method being used in requests. An attacker can exploit this by crafting specially designed HTTP requests that manipulate the verb from its intended value to an alternative method such as GET, POST, PUT, or DELETE. This manipulation bypasses the intended access control mechanisms that should restrict certain operations to authorized users only. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it allows attackers to potentially access administrative functions or sensitive data that should normally be restricted to privileged users. The attack vector typically involves intercepting or crafting HTTP requests and systematically testing different verb combinations to identify which methods can be used to access restricted functionality.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable more sophisticated attacks within the IBM Curam environment. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability could potentially escalate privileges, access confidential social program data, modify user permissions, or perform administrative actions that compromise the integrity of the entire social program management system. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and can lead to data breaches, unauthorized modifications, and potential system compromise. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system, making it a significant concern for organizations managing sensitive social program data. According to the ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access, specifically targeting the T1078 and T1068 attack patterns.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-4779 should focus on implementing proper HTTP method validation and enforcement within the application layer. Organizations should ensure that the application strictly validates the HTTP verb used in requests against expected values and rejects any unauthorized method combinations. Implementing robust input validation, proper access control checks, and logging mechanisms for all HTTP requests can significantly reduce the risk of exploitation. IBM has released patches and updates for affected versions of Curam Social Program Management that address this vulnerability, and organizations should immediately apply these security updates. Additional defensive measures include network segmentation, web application firewalls, and regular security assessments to identify similar weaknesses in the system architecture. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices and implementing proper security controls throughout the application development lifecycle to prevent such access control bypass scenarios.