CVE-2020-4970 in Security Identity Governance and Intelligence
Summary
by MITRE • 05/19/2022
IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence 5.2.4, 5.2.5, and 5.2.6 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the failure to properly enable HTTP Strict Transport Security. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 192429.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/26/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-4970 affects IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence versions 5.2.4, 5.2.5, and 5.2.6, representing a significant security weakness in the application's transport layer security implementation. This flaw manifests as an insufficient configuration of HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) headers, which creates an avenue for attackers to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks and extract sensitive information from communications between clients and the server. The vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly enforce secure communication channels, leaving users exposed to potential data interception and theft.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper implementation of HTTP Strict Transport Security mechanisms within the IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence platform. HSTS is a security feature that helps protect against protocol downgrade attacks and cookie hijacking by instructing browsers to only communicate with the server using HTTPS connections. When this header is not properly configured or enabled, attackers can intercept communications and potentially redirect users to insecure HTTP connections, thereby undermining the security of the entire authentication and authorization process. This weakness directly corresponds to CWE-319, which specifically addresses the exposure of sensitive information through improper use of transport layer security mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it fundamentally compromises the security posture of identity governance systems that rely on secure communication channels. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can intercept sensitive authentication tokens, user credentials, and identity management data during transmission, potentially leading to unauthorized access to privileged accounts and compromise of the entire identity governance infrastructure. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where identity governance systems handle critical authentication data and access control decisions, as it could enable attackers to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to sensitive organizational resources. This weakness aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.004, which covers application layer protocol usage for data exfiltration and credential theft through insecure communication channels.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations that include proper configuration of HSTS headers with appropriate settings such as a minimum age of at least 31536000 seconds and inclusion of subdomains. The recommended approach involves ensuring that the web server configuration enforces HTTPS-only connections and that all responses include the Strict-Transport-Security header with the appropriate parameters. Additionally, system administrators should conduct thorough security audits to verify that all communication channels within the identity governance platform are properly secured and that no HTTP endpoints remain accessible. IBM has released patches and updates to address this vulnerability, and organizations should prioritize applying these security fixes to prevent exploitation. The implementation of additional security measures such as certificate pinning and monitoring for unauthorized protocol downgrades can further strengthen defenses against similar attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring solutions to detect potential man-in-the-middle attacks that could exploit this vulnerability.