CVE-2024-49796 in ApplinX
Summary
by MITRE • 02/06/2025
IBM ApplinX 11.1 could allow a remote attacker to hijack the clicking action of the victim. By persuading a victim to visit a malicious Web site, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to hijack the victim's click actions and possibly launch further attacks against the victim.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/13/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-49796 affects IBM ApplinX 11.1, a web application platform that serves as a foundation for building and deploying enterprise web applications. This security flaw represents a significant concern for organizations relying on the platform for their web-based services and applications. The vulnerability specifically targets the platform's handling of user interaction events, creating a potential pathway for malicious actors to manipulate user experiences in ways that could compromise system integrity and user security. The affected version demonstrates a critical weakness in the platform's event processing mechanisms, particularly concerning click event handling within web interfaces.
This vulnerability constitutes a click hijacking attack that operates through the manipulation of web application events and user interface interactions. The technical flaw lies in how IBM ApplinX 11.1 processes and manages click events within its web application framework, allowing malicious code to intercept, modify, or redirect user click actions. The vulnerability exploits the platform's event propagation mechanisms, potentially enabling attackers to capture user interactions and redirect them to malicious endpoints. This type of attack falls under the category of user interface redressing or clickjacking attacks, where legitimate user actions are subverted to serve malicious purposes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple inconvenience to represent a serious security risk for organizations utilizing IBM ApplinX 11.1. Remote attackers can leverage this flaw to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of victims, potentially gaining access to sensitive data or system resources. The attack requires only that a victim visits a malicious website, making it particularly dangerous as it can be executed through social engineering techniques such as phishing emails or compromised legitimate websites. Once exploited, the vulnerability could enable attackers to perform actions like data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or redirection to malicious content, potentially leading to more severe security incidents. The attack vector aligns with common techniques described in the attack tree framework where initial access through web-based attacks can lead to broader compromise.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability including updating to the latest version of IBM ApplinX 11.1 where the flaw has been patched. Network security measures such as web application firewalls should be configured to monitor and block suspicious click-related traffic patterns. Browser security configurations should be reviewed to ensure proper implementation of clickjacking protection mechanisms. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input validation and event handling security practices as outlined in CWE categories related to user interface security. Security teams should also consider implementing user awareness training to help identify potential social engineering attempts that could exploit this vulnerability. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities in related systems and ensure proper implementation of security controls that align with industry best practices and standards.