Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in Apache POI affects IBM Maximo Asset Management (CVE-2017-5644)

Summary

Apache POI used by IBM Maximo Asset Management is vulnerable to a denial of service, cause by an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) error when processing XML data. By using a specially-crafted OOXML file, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to consume all available CPU resources.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2017-5644**
DESCRIPTION:** Apache POI is vulnerable to a denial of service, cause by an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) error when processing XML data. By using a specially-crafted OOXML file, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to consume all available CPU resources.
CVSS Base Score: 5.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/123699 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)

Affected Products and Versions

The following Apache POI versions are affected:

• Apache POI 3.14 and earlier releases

IBM supplied Apache POI with the following:

The 7.5.0.x and 7.6.0.x versions of Maximo Asset Management bundled Apache POI 3.7, 3.8, and 3.14.

This vulnerability affects the following versions of the IBM Maximo Asset Management core product, and all other IBM Maximo Industry Solution and IBM Control Desk products, regardless of their own version, if they are currently installed on top of an affected IBM Maximo Asset Management. *

Maximo Asset Management core product affected versions:
Maximo Asset Management 7.6, 7.5
Maximo Asset Management Essentials 7.5

Industry Solutions products affected if using an affected core version:
Maximo for Aviation
Maximo for Government
Maximo for Life Sciences
Maximo for Nuclear Power
Maximo for Oil and Gas
Maximo for Transportation
Maximo for Utilities

IBM Control Desk products affected if using an affected core version:
SmartCloud Control Desk
IBM Control Desk
Tivoli Integration Composer

• To determine the core product version, log in and view System Information. The core product version is the “Tivoli’s process automation engine” version. Please consult the Product Coexistence Matrix for a list of supported product combinations.

Remediation/Fixes

The recommended solution is to download the appropriate Interim Fix or Fix Pack from Fix Central (What is Fix Central?) and apply for each affected product as soon as possible. Please see below for information on the fixes available for each product, version, and release. Follow the installation instructions in the ‘readme’ documentation provided with each fix pack or interim fix.

For Maximo Asset Management 7.6, 7.5:

Workarounds and Mitigations

None