Security Bulletin: Multiple security vulnerabilities affect IBM WebSphere Application Server in IBM Cloud

Summary

There is a potential remote code execution vulnerability in WebSphere Application Server. There is a remote code execution vulnerability in the JSF Sun Reference Implementation 1.2 used by WebSphere Application Server. The JSF Sun Reference Implementation 1.2 is used as the default in WebSphere Application Server v7.0, other versions it is not the default. There is a potential spoofing attack in WebSphere Application Server using Form Login when using Java SE 6. This does not occur when using other versions of the Java SE. There is a potential for weaker than expected security in WebSphere Application Server which could result in TLS downgrade under certain conditions. This only applies if FIPS is enabled and the keystores/truststores are configured by the JVM property com.ibm.ssl.protocol. There are potential information disclosure vulnerabilities in WebSphere Application Server Liberty. WebSphere Application Server in IBM Cloud could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information caused by improper handling of passwords.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2018-1567 DESCRIPTION: IBM WebSphere Application Server could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary Java code through the SOAP connector with a serialized object from untrusted sources.
CVSS Base Score: 9.8
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/143024 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)

CVEID: Not Applicable DESCRIPTION: Apache MyFaces and Oracle Mojarra could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system, caused by improper configuration of ViewState settings. If ViewState is configured to use unencrypted state information, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute any code residing in the server’s classpath.
CVSS Base Score: 8.1
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/145172&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)

CVEID: CVE-2018-1695 DESCRIPTION: IBM WebSphere Application Server installations using Form Login could allow a remote attacker to conducts spoofing attacks.
CVSS Base Score: 7.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/145769&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L)

CVEID: CVE-2018-1719 DESCRIPTION: IBM WebSphere Application Server could provide weaker than expected security under certain conditions. This could result in a downgrade of TLS protocol. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to perform man-in-the-middle attacks.
CVSS Base Score: 5.9
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/147292&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

CVEID: CVE-2018-1755 DESCRIPTION: WebSphere Application Server Liberty could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by incorrect transport being used when Liberty is configured to use Java Authentication SPI for Containers (JASPIC). This can happen when the Application Server is configured to permit access on non-secure (http) port and using JASPIC or JSR375 authentication.
CVSS Base Score: 5.9
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/148597&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

CVEID: CVE-2018-1683 DESCRIPTION: IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the failure to encrypt ORB communication.
CVSS Base Score: 5.9
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/145455&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

CVEID: CVE-2018-1838 DESCRIPTION: IBM WebSphere Application Server in IBM Cloud could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information caused by improper handling of passwords.
CVSS Base Score: 5.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/150811&gt; for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

This vulnerability affects the following versions and releases of IBM WebSphere Application Server:

• Liberty
• Version 9.0
• Version 8.5

Remediation/Fixes

To patch an existing service instance:

A. Refer to the IBM WebSphere Application Server bulletins listed below:

1. Security Bulletin: Code execution vulnerability in WebSphere Application Server (CVE-2018-1567)

2. Security Bulletin: Remote code execution vulnerability in the JSF used by WebSphere Application Server

3. Security Bulletin: Potential spoofing attack in WebSphere Application Server (CVE-2018-1695)

4. Security Bulletin: Weaker than expected security in WebSphere Application Server (CVE-2018-1719)

5. Security Bulletin: Information disclosure in WebSphere Application Server Liberty (CVE-2018-1755)

6. Security Bulletin: Information disclosure in WebSphere Application Server Liberty (CVE-2018-1683)

B. Log into the VM.
1. Run /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Liberty/bin/securityUtility encode <password> --encoding=aes
2. Copy the encoded password.

3. Edit /etc/virtualimage.properties
a. Replace WAS_PASSWORD={xor}oldvalue with WAS_PASSWORD={aes}copied from above
b. Host: Replace WLP_CONTROLLER_PASS={xor}oldvalue with WLP_CONTROLLER_PASS={aes}copied from above
c. Controller: Replace WLP_KEYSTORE_PASS={xor}oldvalue with WLP_KEYSTORE_PASS={aes}copied from above

For the Controller and Server
4. Edit /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Profiles/Liberty/servers/server1/server.xml or /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Profiles/Liberty/servers/controller/server.xml
a. Replace userPassword=“{xor}oldvalue” with userPassword=“{aes}copied from above”
b. Controller: replace in a similar fashion passwords for defaultKeyStore, defaultTrustStore, serverIdentity, collectiveTrust, and collectiveRootKeys.

Alternatively, delete the vulnerable service instance and create a new instance.

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References

Complete CVSS v3 Guide
On-line Calculator v3

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Related Information

IBM Secure Engineering Web Portal
IBM Product Security Incident Response Blog

Change History

9 October 2018: Original document published

*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.

Disclaimer

Review the IBM security bulletin disclaimer and definitions regarding your responsibilities for assessing potential impact of security vulnerabilities to your environment.

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