CVE-2026-80380 in DataStage on Cloud Pak for Data
Summary
by MITRE • 09/10/2026
IBM DataStage on Cloud Pak for Data 5.4.0.0 could allow a remote attacker to perform unauthorized actions due to cross-site request forgery.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/11/2026
The vulnerability identified in IBM DataStage within the Cloud Pak for Data environment version 5.4.0.0 represents a significant security risk stemming from insufficient validation of incoming HTTP requests, specifically manifesting as a Cross-Site Request Forgery flaw. This type of attack exploits the trust that a web application has in the user's browser to execute unintended commands on behalf of an authenticated user without their knowledge or consent. In this specific context, the vulnerability allows a remote attacker to craft malicious links or scripts that trick a legitimate administrator or operator into performing actions such as modifying system configurations, initiating data pipelines, or altering access controls while logged into the IBM DataStage interface. The core technical flaw lies in the application's failure to implement robust anti-CSRF mechanisms, such as unique per-session tokens or strict origin header validation, which are essential for distinguishing between legitimate user-initiated requests and those forged by malicious third-party sites.
From an operational perspective, the impact of this vulnerability is severe due to the privileged nature of users interacting with IBM DataStage. Since DataStage handles critical data integration tasks within enterprise environments, unauthorized actions could lead to data corruption, leakage, or complete disruption of business-critical ETL processes. An attacker who successfully exploits this flaw does not necessarily need to compromise user credentials directly; instead, they leverage the existing session cookies and authentication state of a victim who is currently logged in. This makes detection difficult as the requests appear legitimate from the server's perspective, originating from an authenticated source. The ability for remote attackers to perform unauthorized actions effectively bypasses standard access control measures that rely on identity verification rather than intent validation, thereby undermining the integrity of the data integration platform and potentially exposing sensitive organizational data stored or processed by DataStage pipelines.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery as a weakness where an application uses a user's credentials to perform actions without explicit consent. The exploitation technique is categorized under MITRE ATT&CK Tactic TA0001, specifically mapping to the Execution and Persistence techniques if the forged requests lead to long-term backdoors or system modifications. Furthermore, it relates to CWE-613 regarding insufficient session expiration, as the attack relies on active sessions remaining valid during the time window of exploitation. To mitigate this risk, immediate remediation should focus on implementing synchronized CSRF tokens in all state-changing HTTP requests, ensuring that each form submission includes a unique token generated by the server and validated upon receipt. Additionally, enforcing strict SameSite cookie attributes to prevent browsers from sending session cookies with cross-site requests can significantly reduce the attack surface. Regular security audits focusing on input validation and authentication workflows are recommended to ensure comprehensive protection against such forgery attacks in cloud-native data platforms.