CVE-2023-38009 in Cognos Analytics Mobile
Summary
by MITRE • 01/26/2025
IBM Cognos Mobile Client 1.1 iOS may be vulnerable to information disclosure through man in the middle techniques due to the lack of certificate pinning.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-38009 affects IBM Cognos Mobile Client version 1.1 on iOS platforms, presenting a significant security risk through insufficient certificate validation mechanisms. This flaw resides in the mobile application's inability to implement proper certificate pinning, which creates an exploitable weakness in the communication channel between the client and backend services. The absence of certificate pinning means the application accepts any valid certificate chain presented by the server, making it susceptible to various man-in-the-middle attacks that could compromise sensitive data transmission.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to validate server certificates against a predefined set of trusted certificates or public keys. This weakness allows attackers to perform SSL/TLS interception attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates that would otherwise be accepted by the application. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-295 which specifically addresses improper certificate validation and certificate pinning implementation. Without proper certificate pinning, the mobile client cannot distinguish between legitimate and malicious certificates, potentially enabling attackers to intercept, modify, or steal sensitive information transmitted through the application's network communications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it exposes organizations to potential data breaches involving confidential business intelligence, financial reports, and other sensitive analytics data that the Cognos Mobile Client typically handles. Attackers could exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to corporate dashboards, analytical reports, and business metrics that are critical to organizational operations. The risk is particularly elevated in enterprise environments where the Cognos Mobile Client may be used to access sensitive corporate data from mobile devices, potentially providing attackers with access to strategic business information and operational insights.
Organizations utilizing IBM Cognos Mobile Client version 1.1 should prioritize immediate remediation through the application of certificate pinning mechanisms and ensure all communications are properly validated against trusted certificate authorities. The implementation of certificate pinning should follow industry best practices and align with the NIST SP 800-52 guidelines for certificate management. Additionally, security teams should implement network monitoring solutions to detect potential man-in-the-middle activities and consider deploying additional network security controls such as SSL inspection and deep packet inspection to identify and block malicious certificate interception attempts. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers credential access through phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security measures beyond the application layer.
This vulnerability represents a critical gap in mobile application security that could enable sophisticated attackers to establish persistent access to enterprise analytics data, potentially leading to competitive intelligence theft and operational disruption. The lack of certificate pinning in mobile applications is particularly concerning given the increased attack surface presented by mobile device usage and the often less secure network environments in which these devices operate. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their mobile application ecosystems and ensure that all client applications implement proper certificate validation mechanisms to prevent similar vulnerabilities from compromising sensitive data transmission channels.