CVE-2026-35115 in AION
Summary
by MITRE • 11/06/2026
HCL AION is affected by a vulnerability where the HTTP Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS) header was missing or insecurely configured, so browsers were not instructed to always use HTTPS. This may allow connections to be downgraded or intercepted, potentially resulting in unintended behavior or security impact under certain conditions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/06/2026
The absence of a properly configured HTTP Strict-Transport-Security header in HCL AION represents a significant configuration weakness that undermines the integrity and confidentiality of communications between clients and the application server. This vulnerability falls squarely within the CWE category for Missing Strict Transport Security, which is classified as an information exposure risk due to the potential for man-in-the-middle attacks. When this security policy directive is missing or incorrectly implemented, web browsers are not instructed to enforce secure connections over HTTPS exclusively. Consequently, users may inadvertently establish unencrypted HTTP sessions, leaving sensitive data transmitted in plaintext and vulnerable to interception by malicious actors positioned on the network path.
From an operational perspective, this flaw enables protocol downgrade attacks where attackers can intercept initial requests or manipulate DNS responses to force a connection from HTTPS down to insecure HTTP. This aligns with MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to Man-in-the-Middle Attacks and potentially Session Hijacking if cookies are not marked as secure and httponly flags are also misconfigured alongside the missing HSTS header. The impact is particularly severe in environments where administrative credentials, session tokens, or proprietary business data are exchanged through the application interface. Without the strict transport security policy, there is no mechanism to ensure that subsequent requests automatically upgrade to HTTPS, thereby exposing the system to eavesdropping and credential theft during transit.
To mitigate this vulnerability, it is imperative to configure the web server hosting HCL AION to include a robust HTTP Strict-Transport-Security header in all responses. This header should specify a sufficiently long max-age value, such as one year or more, to ensure that browsers remember the preference for HTTPS over an extended period. Additionally, including the includeSubDomains directive ensures that subdomains are also protected against downgrade attacks, while the preload attribute can be utilized if the organization intends to submit its domain to browser vendor preload lists for even stronger protection. Regular security audits and configuration reviews should be conducted to verify that this header is consistently present across all endpoints and remains correctly formatted according to current web security best practices.