CVE-2023-45718 in Sametime
Summary
by MITRE • 02/10/2024
Sametime is impacted by a failure to invalidate sessions. The application is setting sensitive cookie values in a persistent manner in Sametime Web clients. When this happens, cookie values can remain valid even after a user has closed out their session.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-45718 affects IBM Sametime, a unified communications platform that enables real-time collaboration through instant messaging, video conferencing, and chat features. This security flaw represents a critical session management weakness that directly impacts the platform's authentication and authorization mechanisms. The issue stems from improper session invalidation practices within the Sametime Web client implementation, creating persistent security risks for organizations relying on this communication infrastructure. The vulnerability allows attackers to potentially exploit session tokens and maintain access to systems beyond the intended session duration, undermining fundamental security principles of time-bound authentication and access control.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the application's failure to properly invalidate session identifiers when users terminate their sessions. Specifically, sensitive cookie values are stored in a persistent manner within the Web client environment, meaning these authentication tokens remain active even after users have explicitly logged out or closed their browser sessions. This persistent storage behavior violates standard session management protocols and creates a window of opportunity for unauthorized access. The vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-613, which addresses insufficient session expiration, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 related to credential access through session hijacking. The persistent nature of these cookies essentially creates a backdoor that remains open even when legitimate users believe they have ended their session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass potential data breaches, privilege escalation, and persistent surveillance capabilities. Attackers who can maintain access through these persistent session tokens can potentially intercept communications, access sensitive collaboration data, and perform actions within the Sametime environment using compromised credentials. This risk is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where Sametime may be used for confidential business discussions, strategic planning sessions, or sensitive internal communications. Organizations may experience unauthorized access to proprietary information, disruption of collaborative workflows, and potential compliance violations depending on their regulatory requirements. The vulnerability affects not just individual user sessions but could potentially compromise entire organizational communication channels if exploited at scale.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-45718 should focus on immediate implementation of proper session invalidation mechanisms and cookie management practices. Organizations should ensure that session tokens are properly destroyed upon user logout and that persistent cookies are either removed or marked as invalid when sessions end. The implementation of secure cookie attributes such as HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite flags can help prevent cookie theft and session hijacking attacks. System administrators should also consider implementing session timeout mechanisms that automatically invalidate inactive sessions after predetermined periods. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to verify that session management is functioning correctly. Additionally, organizations should monitor for suspicious session activity and implement logging mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts. Patch management procedures should be prioritized to ensure timely deployment of vendor-provided security updates that address this specific session invalidation flaw.