Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in RC4 stream cipher affects IBM Cognos Controller (CVE-2015-2808)

Summary

The RC4 “Bar Mitzvah” Attack for SSL/TLS affects IBM Cognos Controller

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2015-2808 DESCRIPTION: The RC4 algorithm, as used in the TLS protocol and SSL protocol, could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to remotely expose account credentials without requiring an active man-in-the-middle session. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to retrieve credit card data or other sensitive information. This vulnerability is commonly referred to as “Bar Mitzvah Attack”.
CVSS Base Score: 5
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/101851 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

IBM Cognos Controller 10.2.1
IBM Cognos Controller 10.2
IBM Cognos Controller 10.1.1
IBM Cognos Controller 10.1
IBM Cognos Controller 8.5.1
IBM Cognos Controller 8.5

Remediation/Fixes

IBM Cognos Controller 10.2.1 FP1 IF1

IBM Cognos Controller 10.2 FP1 IF2

IBM Cognos Controller 10.1.1 FP3 IF4

IBM Cognos Controller 10.1 IF4

IBM Cognos Controller 8.5.1 FP1 IF1

Users of IBM Cognos Controller 8.5 are advised to contact IBM Customer Support.

Workarounds and Mitigations

The RC4 cipher suites must be disabled using Cognos Configuration by performing the following actions:

1. Start Cognos Configuration

2. Navigate to Security/Cryptography/Cognos

3. Open the supported cipher suites selection dialog

4. Select all cipher suites that have RC4 in the the name and remove them from the Current Values List. Select OK to save the new list.

5. Save and restart your service using Cognos Configuration.

You should verify applying this configuration change does not cause any compatibility issues. Not disabling the RC4 stream cipher will expose yourself to the attack described above. IBM recommends that you review your entire environment to identify other areas where you have enabled the RC4 stream cipher and take appropriate mitigation and remediation actions.