Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in IP Quorum affects IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize, IBM Spectrum Virtualize and IBM FlashSystem products

Summary

A vulnerability in the IP Quorum feature on IBM Spectum Virtualize may lead to loss of confidentiality in private communications between the management GUI and clients. It is recommended that administrators upgrade to a fixed code level, request a new system certificate and redeploy the IP Quorum app if this feature has been enabled.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID:CVE-2022-39167
**DESCRIPTION:**IBM Spectrum Virtualize, under certain configurations, could disclose sensitive information to an attacker using man-in-the-middle techniques.
CVSS Base score: 5.9
CVSS Temporal Score: See: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/235408 for the current score.
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

Remediation/Fixes

IBM recommends that you fix this vulnerability by upgrading affected versions of IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize V7000, IBM Storwize V5000 and V5100, IBM Storwize V5000E, IBM Spectrum Virtualize Software, IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud, IBM FlashSystem V9000, IBM FlashSystem 9500, IBM FlashSystem 9100 Family, IBM FlashSystem 9200, IBM FlashSystem 7300, IBM FlashSystem 7200, IBM FlashSystem 5200 and IBM FlashSystem 5000 to the following code levels or higher:

8.5.2.0

8.5.0.6

8.4.0.9

8.3.1.9

8.2.1.16

7.8.1.16

Latest IBM SAN Volume Controller Code
Latest IBM Storwize V7000 Code
Latest IBM Storwize V5000 and V5100 Code
Latest IBM Storwize V5000E Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem V9000 Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem 9500 Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem 9100 Family Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem 9200 Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem 7300 Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem 7200 Code
Latest IBM FlashSystem 5000 and 5200 Code
Latest IBM Spectrum Virtualize Software
Latest IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud

After upgrading to a fixed code level, the following steps should be taken if you have enabled the IP Quorum feature:

• Request a new system certificate
• Redeploy the IP Quorum app

The recommendation to replace the system certificate applies regardless of whether the current certificate is self-signed or signed by a certificate authority.

Workarounds and Mitigations

If you are unable to immediately upgrade, the following options are available to mitigate this issue if you have enabled the IP Quorum feature:

Option 1: Stop using IP Quorum until you are able to upgrade to a fixed code level

• Disable IP Quorum
• Request a new system certificate

Note that this can be detrimental for systems using Enhanced Stretched Cluster or HyperSwap, or those with multiple I/O groups, which may no longer have a quorum device accessible to all nodes if IP Quorum is disabled.

Option 2: Continue using IP Quorum but redeploy the app and strictly control access to the JAR file

• Request a new system certificate
• Generate and download a new IP Quorum app JAR file
• Immediately delete the JAR file from the system once it has been downloaded (navigate to Settings > Support Package in the management GUI and click “Delete Logs”, then search for ip_quorum.jar).
• Restrict permissions on the JAR file so that it can only be read or executed by a trusted administrator.
• Impose strict access controls on the server the IP Quorum app is running on
• Copy the JAR file to the servers that are designated for running the IP Quorum app and deploy the new version

Note that the IP Quorum JAR file is the root cause of this security exposure, so must be carefully protected at all time.