Security Bulletin: IBM Cognos Controller 10.4.2 IF17: Apache Log4j vulnerability (CVE-2021-45105 & CVE-2021-44832)

Summary

IBM Cognos Controller is affected by security vulnerabilities. Apache Log4j is used by IBM Cognos Controller as part of its logging infrastructure. This bulletin addresses the exposure to the Apache Log4j vulnerabilities: CVE-2021-45105 and CVE-2021-44832. IBM Cognos Controller has upgraded Apache Log4j to v2.17.1. Please note that this update also addresses CVE-2021-44228 and CVE-2021-45046.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID:CVE-2021-45105
**DESCRIPTION:**Apache Log4j is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by the failure to protect from uncontrolled recursion from self-referential lookups. A remote attacker with control over Thread Context Map (MDC) input data could craft malicious input data that contains a recursive lookup to cause a StackOverflowError that will terminate the process. Note: The vulnerability is also called LOG4J2-3230.
CVSS Base score: 7.5
CVSS Temporal Score: See: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/215647 for the current score.
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

CVEID:CVE-2021-44832
**DESCRIPTION:**Apache Log4j could allow a remote attacker with permission to modify the logging configuration file to execute arbitrary code on the system. By constructing a malicious configuration using a JDBC Appender with a data source referencing a JNDI URI , an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute remote code.
CVSS Base score: 6.6
CVSS Temporal Score: See: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/216189 for the current score.
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)

Affected Products and Versions

IBM Cognos Controller 10.4.2

Remediation/Fixes

If you have the listed affected version, it is strongly recommended that you apply the most recent security update:

Download IBM Cognos Controller 10.4.2 IF17 from Fix Central

Please note that this update also addresses CVE-2021-44228 and CVE-2021-45046.

Remediation for IBM Cognos Controller on Cloud has completed.

Workarounds and Mitigations

The IBM Cognos Controller team developed a “no-upgrade” option for our “On Prem” (local installation) customers.

To get the patch and detailed instructions, click this link: IBM Cognos Controller 10.4.2.0 Apache Log4j Work-around

The patch is applicable to IBM Cognos Controller version 10.4.2.

The instructions will guide you to replace the log4j vulnerable files manually without impacting your current product version.