CVE-2026-75621 in Aspera Enterprise WebApps
Summary
by MITRE • 10/13/2026
IBM Aspera Enterprise WebApps 1.0.0 through 1.0.6 could allow a local attacker to obtain sensitive information due to excessive permissions assigned to a service account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2026
The vulnerability identified in IBM Aspera Enterprise WebApps versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.6 stems from an improper configuration of access controls, specifically involving the assignment of overly permissive privileges to a local service account. This misconfiguration represents a classic instance of excessive privilege escalation potential, where the underlying operating system grants the application's runtime identity more authority than is strictly necessary for its operational functions. In typical enterprise deployments, services are expected to operate under least-privilege principles, restricting their ability to read or modify files outside their designated scope. However, in this specific case, the service account associated with Aspera Enterprise WebApps possesses broad file system access rights that extend beyond the application's core data directories and configuration paths.
From a technical perspective, this flaw allows any local user on the same host machine who can authenticate to the operating system to interact with the vulnerable service or exploit its elevated permissions indirectly. By leveraging standard OS mechanisms such as symbolic links, race conditions in file creation, or simply reading files that are accessible by the group or world-readable attributes assigned to the misconfigured account, an attacker can bypass intended isolation boundaries. The core issue is not a code execution flaw within the application logic itself, but rather a systemic failure in hardening the deployment environment against local privilege abuse. This aligns directly with CWE-250, which defines vulnerabilities where software performs an operation without checking or incorrectly checks whether it has sufficient privileges to perform that action, and CWE-732, concerning incorrect permission assignment for critical resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is primarily focused on the confidentiality of sensitive data stored within the Aspera environment. An attacker with local access can potentially exfiltrate configuration files containing database credentials, API keys, or other secrets used by the application to communicate with backend services. Furthermore, if the service account has write permissions in directories where it should not have them, there is a risk of tampering with critical system files or injecting malicious scripts that could be executed under the context of the privileged service account during subsequent restarts or updates. This effectively transforms a local user into an entity capable of compromising the integrity and availability of the entire Aspera infrastructure, potentially leading to unauthorized data transfers or denial of service conditions if configuration files are corrupted.
This vulnerability maps closely to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1548.003, which involves Abuse of Elevation Control Mechanisms by exploiting misconfigured permissions that allow a user to bypass access controls and gain higher privileges. It also relates to T1078, Valid Accounts, as the attacker leverages legitimate but overly privileged service credentials or system accounts to maintain persistence and move laterally within the network after initial local compromise. The risk is particularly acute in multi-tenant environments or shared hosting scenarios where multiple users share a single physical host, making lateral movement significantly easier for an adversary who has already breached one user's account on that machine.
To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations must immediately audit and restrict the file system permissions assigned to the Aspera Enterprise WebApps service accounts. This involves identifying all directories and files accessed by the application and ensuring that read, write, and execute permissions are granted only to those specific paths required for normal operation. Administrators should implement strict least-privilege policies, removing any world-readable or group-writable attributes from sensitive configuration files and logs. Additionally, deploying file integrity monitoring solutions can help detect unauthorized changes to critical system files resulting from this privilege abuse. Upgrading to a version of IBM Aspera Enterprise WebApps later than 1.0.6 is the primary remediation strategy, as subsequent releases likely address these permission settings through improved installation scripts or hardened default configurations that adhere to industry best practices for service account isolation and security hardening.