Vulnerabilities > CVE-2009-2085 - Improper Authentication vulnerability in IBM Websphere Application Server

047910
CVSS 7.5 - HIGH
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
PARTIAL
Integrity impact
PARTIAL
Availability impact
PARTIAL
network
low complexity
ibm
CWE-287
nessus

Summary

The Security component in IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 6.1 before 6.1.0.25 and 7.0 before 7.0.0.5 does not properly handle use of Identity Assertion with CSIv2 Security, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended CSIv2 access restrictions via vectors involving Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB).

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Authentication Abuse
    An attacker obtains unauthorized access to an application, service or device either through knowledge of the inherent weaknesses of an authentication mechanism, or by exploiting a flaw in the authentication scheme's implementation. In such an attack an authentication mechanism is functioning but a carefully controlled sequence of events causes the mechanism to grant access to the attacker. This attack may exploit assumptions made by the target's authentication procedures, such as assumptions regarding trust relationships or assumptions regarding the generation of secret values. This attack differs from Authentication Bypass attacks in that Authentication Abuse allows the attacker to be certified as a valid user through illegitimate means, while Authentication Bypass allows the user to access protected material without ever being certified as an authenticated user. This attack does not rely on prior sessions established by successfully authenticating users, as relied upon for the "Exploitation of Session Variables, Resource IDs and other Trusted Credentials" attack patterns.
  • Exploiting Trust in Client (aka Make the Client Invisible)
    An attack of this type exploits a programs' vulnerabilities in client/server communication channel authentication and data integrity. It leverages the implicit trust a server places in the client, or more importantly, that which the server believes is the client. An attacker executes this type of attack by placing themselves in the communication channel between client and server such that communication directly to the server is possible where the server believes it is communicating only with a valid client. There are numerous variations of this type of attack.
  • Utilizing REST's Trust in the System Resource to Register Man in the Middle
    This attack utilizes a REST(REpresentational State Transfer)-style applications' trust in the system resources and environment to place man in the middle once SSL is terminated. Rest applications premise is that they leverage existing infrastructure to deliver web services functionality. An example of this is a Rest application that uses HTTP Get methods and receives a HTTP response with an XML document. These Rest style web services are deployed on existing infrastructure such as Apache and IIS web servers with no SOAP stack required. Unfortunately from a security standpoint, there frequently is no interoperable identity security mechanism deployed, so Rest developers often fall back to SSL to deliver security. In large data centers, SSL is typically terminated at the edge of the network - at the firewall, load balancer, or router. Once the SSL is terminated the HTTP request is in the clear (unless developers have hashed or encrypted the values, but this is rare). The attacker can utilize a sniffer such as Wireshark to snapshot the credentials, such as username and password that are passed in the clear once SSL is terminated. Once the attacker gathers these credentials, they can submit requests to the web service provider just as authorized user do. There is not typically an authentication on the client side, beyond what is passed in the request itself so once this is compromised, then this is generally sufficient to compromise the service's authentication scheme.
  • Man in the Middle Attack
    This type of attack targets the communication between two components (typically client and server). The attacker places himself in the communication channel between the two components. Whenever one component attempts to communicate with the other (data flow, authentication challenges, etc.), the data first goes to the attacker, who has the opportunity to observe or alter it, and it is then passed on to the other component as if it was never intercepted. This interposition is transparent leaving the two compromised components unaware of the potential corruption or leakage of their communications. The potential for Man-in-the-Middle attacks yields an implicit lack of trust in communication or identify between two components.

Nessus

  • NASL familyWeb Servers
    NASL idWEBSPHERE_7_0_0_5.NASL
    descriptionIBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0 before Fix Pack 5 appears to be running on the remote host. As such, it is reportedly affected by multiple vulnerabilities : - Non-standard HTTP methods are allowed. (PK73246) - If the admin console is directly accessed from HTTP, the console fails to redirect the connection to a secure login page. (PK77010) - An error in Single Sign-on (SSO) with SPNEGO implementation could allow a remote attacker to bypass security restrictions. (PK77465) -
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id40823
    published2009-08-31
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2009-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/40823
    titleIBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0 < Fix Pack 5
    code
    #
    # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    #
    
    include("compat.inc");
    
    if (description)
    {
      script_id(40823);
      script_version("1.13");
      script_cvs_date("Date: 2018/08/06 14:03:16");
    
      script_cve_id(
        "CVE-2009-0899", 
        "CVE-2009-1195", 
        "CVE-2009-1898",
        "CVE-2009-1899",
        "CVE-2009-1900",
        "CVE-2009-1901",
        "CVE-2009-2085",
        "CVE-2009-2087",
        "CVE-2009-2088",
        "CVE-2009-2089", 
        "CVE-2009-0899", 
        "CVE-2009-2090",
        "CVE-2009-2091",
        "CVE-2009-2092"
      );
      script_bugtraq_id(36153, 36154, 36155, 36156, 36157, 36158, 36163);
    
      script_name(english:"IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0 < Fix Pack 5");
      script_summary(english:"Reads the version number from the SOAP port");
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
    "The remote application server is affected by multiple vulnerabilities.");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
    "IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0 before Fix Pack 5 appears to be
    running on the remote host.  As such, it is reportedly affected by
    multiple vulnerabilities :
    
      - Non-standard HTTP methods are allowed. (PK73246)
    
      - If the admin console is directly accessed from HTTP,
        the console fails to redirect the connection to a
        secure login page. (PK77010)
    
      - An error in Single Sign-on (SSO) with SPNEGO 
        implementation could allow a remote attacker
        to bypass security restrictions. (PK77465)
    
      - 'wsadmin' is affected by a security exposure. 
        (PK77495)  
    
      - Security flag 'isSecurityEnabled' is incorrectly set
        after migrating from VMM. (PK78134)
    
      - Use of insecure password obfuscation algorithm by Web
        services could result in weaker than expected security
        provided the client module specifies a password in 
        ibm-webservicesclient-bind.xmi and target environment 
        has custom password encryption enabled. (PK79275)
    
      - After upgrading from WebSphere Application Server V6.1 
        to V7.0 with tracing enabled, an attacker may be able
        view sensitive information by viewing the trace files.
        (PK80337)  
    
      - If CSIv2 Security is configured with Identity 
        Assertion, it may be possible for a remote
        attacker to bypass security restrictions. (PK83097)
    
      - New applications deployed in WebSphere Application 
        Server for z/OS prior to 1.8 are saved on the file
        system with insecure privileges resulting in
        disclosure of sensitive information. (PK83308)
    
      - Configservice APIs could display sensitive information.
        (PK84999)
    
      - Vulnerabilities in Apache HTTP server could allow a
        local user to gain elevated privileges. (PK86232)
    
      - A error in 'wsadmin' could allow a remote attacker
        to bypass security restrictions. (PK86328)
       
      - A vulnerability in portlet serving enable parameter
        could allow an attacker to bypass security restrictions
        and gain unauthorized access to the application. 
        (PK89385)");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27014463#7005");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:"Apply Fix Pack 5 (7.0.0.5) or later.");
      script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P");
      script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");
      script_cwe_id(16, 200, 255, 264, 287);
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2009/07/27");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2009/07/27");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2009/08/31");
     
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"remote");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/a:ibm:websphere_application_server");
      script_end_attributes();
    
      script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
      script_family(english:"Web Servers");
    
      script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2009-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc.");
    
      script_dependencies("websphere_detect.nasl");
      script_require_ports("Services/www", 8880, 8881);
      script_require_keys("www/WebSphere");
    
      exit(0);
    }
    
    include("global_settings.inc");
    include("misc_func.inc");
    include("http.inc");
    
    port = get_http_port(default:8880);
    
    
    version = get_kb_item("www/WebSphere/"+port+"/version");
    if (isnull(version)) exit(1, "Failed to extract the version from the IBM WebSphere Application Server instance listening on port " + port + ".");
    if (version =~ "^[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?$")
      exit(1, "Failed to extract a granular version from the IBM WebSphere Application Server instance listening on port " + port + ".");
    
    ver = split(version, sep:'.', keep:FALSE);
    for (i=0; i<max_index(ver); i++)
      ver[i] = int(ver[i]);
    
    if (ver[0] == 7 && ver[1] == 0 && ver[2] == 0 && ver[3] < 5)
    {
      if (report_verbosity > 0)
      {
        source = get_kb_item_or_exit("www/WebSphere/"+port+"/source");
    
        report = 
          '\n  Source            : ' + source + 
          '\n  Installed version : ' + version +
          '\n  Fixed version     : 7.0.0.5' +
          '\n';
        security_warning(port:port, extra:report);
      }
      else security_warning(port);
      exit(0);
    }
    else exit(0, "The WebSphere Application Server "+version+" instance listening on port "+port+" is not affected.");
    
  • NASL familyWeb Servers
    NASL idWEBSPHERE_6_1_0_25.NASL
    descriptionIBM WebSphere Application Server 6.1 before Fix Pack 25 appears to be running on the remote host. As such, it is reportedly affected by multiple vulnerabilities : - Non-standard HTTP methods are allowed. (PK73246) - An error in Single Sign-on (SSO) with SPNEGO implementation could allow a remote attacker to bypass security restrictions. (PK77465) -
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id39450
    published2009-06-19
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2009-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/39450
    titleIBM WebSphere Application Server < 6.1.0.25 Multiple Vulnerabilities