CVE-2020-4953 in Planning Analytics
Summary
by MITRE • 02/23/2021
IBM Planning Analytics 2.0 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to obtain information about an organization's internal structure by exposing sensitive information in HTTP repsonses. IBM X-Force ID: 192029.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/04/2021
IBM Planning Analytics version 2.0 contains a vulnerability that enables remote authenticated attackers to extract sensitive organizational information through HTTP responses. This flaw represents a classic information disclosure vulnerability where the application fails to properly sanitize or restrict the data returned in HTTP responses. The vulnerability specifically affects the internal structure information of organizations, which could include details about business units, departments, user roles, or other sensitive organizational hierarchies that should remain confidential.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output sanitization within the application's response handling mechanisms. When authenticated users make specific requests to the Planning Analytics system, the application inadvertently includes organizational metadata within HTTP responses that should be restricted to authorized personnel only. This occurs due to inadequate access control enforcement at the response layer, allowing attackers to gather intelligence about the internal organizational structure without proper authorization. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-200, which covers information exposure, and represents a failure in proper access control mechanisms that should prevent unauthorized information disclosure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information gathering as it provides attackers with valuable reconnaissance data that can be used for subsequent attacks. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can map out an organization's internal structure, potentially identifying key personnel, business units, and data access patterns. This intelligence can be leveraged for targeted social engineering attacks, privilege escalation attempts, or to plan more sophisticated breaches. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality aspect of the CIA triad by exposing sensitive organizational information that should remain private. From an attacker perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-value reconnaissance opportunity that can significantly reduce the time and effort required for more advanced attacks.
Organizations using IBM Planning Analytics 2.0 should implement immediate mitigations including restricting access to sensitive endpoints, implementing proper input validation controls, and ensuring that HTTP responses contain minimal information about internal organizational structures. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002, which covers data from information repositories, and represents a clear violation of principle of least privilege. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation to limit access to the Planning Analytics system, enforcing strong authentication controls, and conducting regular security assessments to identify similar information disclosure vulnerabilities. IBM has issued patches and updates to address this specific vulnerability, and organizations should prioritize applying these security fixes to prevent exploitation. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the security updates to ensure that legitimate functionality remains intact while addressing the information disclosure risk.