CVE-2025-2697 in Cognos Command Center
Summary
by MITRE • 08/26/2025
IBM Cognos Command Center 10.2.4.1 and 10.2.5
could allow a remote attacker to conduct phishing attacks, using an open redirect attack. By persuading a victim to visit a specially crafted Web site, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to spoof the URL displayed to redirect a user to a malicious Web site that would appear to be trusted. This could allow the attacker to obtain highly sensitive information or conduct further attacks against the victim.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/29/2025
IBM Cognos Command Center versions 10.2.4.1 and 10.2.5 contain a critical open redirect vulnerability that enables remote attackers to execute sophisticated phishing campaigns. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-601 category of Open Redirect, where the application fails to properly validate redirect URLs, allowing malicious actors to craft deceptive web links that appear to originate from legitimate sources. The flaw exists in the web application's redirect functionality, which does not adequately sanitize or verify the destination URLs before processing redirects.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the application's URL handling mechanisms. When users click on maliciously crafted links that exploit this vulnerability, the application processes the redirect without proper authorization checks, enabling attackers to manipulate the redirect flow to point to malicious domains while maintaining the appearance of legitimate IBM Cognos Command Center URLs. This creates a deceptive user experience where the browser's address bar displays trusted domain names while actually navigating to attacker-controlled websites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides attackers with a powerful vector for information theft and further compromise. Users who fall victim to these phishing attacks may unknowingly provide credentials, sensitive data, or execute malicious code on systems they believe to be secure. The attack chain typically involves initial user engagement through social engineering, followed by the exploitation of the open redirect to direct users to carefully crafted malicious sites that can harvest authentication tokens, steal session cookies, or deploy additional malware. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for Phishing and T1071.004 for Application Layer Protocol: DNS, as attackers can leverage the trust relationship with the legitimate application to bypass user security awareness.
Organizations should immediately implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability. The primary mitigation involves patching the application to the latest supported version where this vulnerability has been addressed. Network administrators should deploy web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious redirect patterns, while also implementing strict URL validation policies that prevent redirection to untrusted domains. Additionally, user education programs should emphasize the importance of verifying URLs before clicking on links, particularly in emails or web applications. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual redirect patterns and suspicious URL parameters that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of implementing proper access controls and least privilege principles to limit the potential impact of successful phishing attacks. Organizations should conduct regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in other web applications and ensure that all redirect functionality properly validates destination URLs against a trusted domain whitelist.