Security Bulletin: Vulnerabilities exist in Watson Explorer Analytical Components, Watson Explorer Annotation Administration Console, and Watson Content Analytics

Summary

Security vulnerabilities have been identified in IBM Watson Explorer Analytical Components, Watson Explorer Foundational Components Annotation Administration Console, and IBM Watson Content Analytics.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2016-5986**
DESCRIPTION:** IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the improper handling of responses under certain conditions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to gain server identification information.
CVSS Base Score: 3.7
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/116556 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N)

CVEID: CVE-2016-5983**
DESCRIPTION:** IBM WebSphere Application Server could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary Java code with a serialized object from untrusted sources.
CVSS Base Score: 7.5
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/116468 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:H/A:H)

Affected Products and Versions

To see which vulnerabilities apply to your product and version, see the applicable row in the following table.

Affected Product

| Affected Versions|Applicable Vulnerabilities
—|—|—
Watson Explorer Analytical Components| 11.0.0.0 - 11.0.0.3, 11.0.1| CVE-2016-5986
CVE-2016-5983
Watson Explorer Foundational Components Annotation Administration Console| 11.0.0.0 - 11.0.0.3, 11.0.1| CVE-2016-5986
CVE-2016-5983
Watson Explorer Analytical Components| 10.0.0.0 - 10.0.0.2| CVE-2016-5986
CVE-2016-5983
Watson Explorer Foundational Components Annotation Administration Console| 10.0.0.0 - 10.0.0.2| CVE-2016-5986
CVE-2016-5983
Watson Content Analytics| 3.5.0.4| CVE-2016-5983
Watson Content Analytics| 3.5.0.0 - 3.5.0.3| CVE-2016-5986
CVE-2016-5983

Remediation/Fixes

For information about fixes, see the applicable row in the following table. The table reflects product names at the time the specified versions were released. To use the links to Fix Central in this table, you must first log in to the IBM Support: Fix Central site at <http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/&gt;.

1. If not already installed, install V10.0 Fix Pack 2 (see the Fix Pack download document).
2. Download the package from Fix Central: interim fix 10.0.0.2-WS-WatsonExplorer-AEAnalytical-IF002 or later and extract the contents of the fix into a temporary directory.
3. Stop Watson Explorer Analytical Components.
4. Overwrite the old version of esctrl.jar with the fixed version in the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/lib directory.
5. Remove or rename the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/wlp directory.
6. Extract wlp-core-embeddable-16.0.0.3.zip in the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT directory. The wlp directory is created. For example, $ unzip wlp-core-embeddable-16.0.0.3.zip -d $ES_INSTALL_ROOT
7. Run the fix for WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile, 16003-wlp-archive-IFPI62375.jar. For example, $ java -jar 16003-wlp-archive-IFPI62375.jar --installLocation $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/wlp

• Note: When you run the fix, use the JVM for which the major version is same as the version that is used by Watson Explorer, and the minor version is the latest minor version. For example, Java 7.0.9.60 for Watson Explorer V10.

• Using a text editor, set the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/configurations/interfaces/indexservice__interface.ini classpath to be:
  classpath=es.indexservice.jar,antlr-2.7.2.jar,cloudscape/lib/derbyclient.jar,cloudscape/lib/derby.jar,an_icm.jar,es.dock.jar,oze_search.jar,wlp/dev/api/spec/com.ibm.ws.javaee.servlet.3.0_1.0.14.jar,es.rdf.jar,bcprov-jdk15-1.44.jar,fontbox-1.8.8.jar,jempbox-1.8.8.jar,pdfbox-1.8.8.jar

  • The new classpath replaces:
    classpath=es.indexservice.jar,antlr-2.7.2.jar,cloudscape/lib/derbyclient.jar,cloudscape/lib/derby.jar,an_icm.jar,es.dock.jar,oze_search.jar,wlp/dev/api/spec/com.ibm.ws.javaee.servlet.3.0_1.0.1.jar,es.rdf.jar,bcprov-jdk15-1.44.jar,fontbox-1.8.8.jar,jempbox-1.8.8.jar,pdfbox-1.8.8.jar

• After saving the changes, restart Watson Explorer Analytical Components.
  Watson Explorer Foundational Components Annotation Administration Console| 10.0.0.0 - 10.0.0.2| CVE-2016-5986
  CVE-2016-5983| Important: Perform these steps as a Watson Explorer Annotation Administration Console administrative user, typically esadmin.

  1. If not already installed, install V10.0 Fix Pack 2 (see the Fix Pack download document).
  2. Download the package from Fix Central: interim fix 10.0.0.2-WS-WatsonExplorer-<edition>FoundationalAAC-IF002 or later and extract the contents of the fix into a temporary directory.
  3. Stop Watson Explorer Annotation Administration Console.
  4. Overwrite the old version of esctrl.jar with the fixed version in the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/lib directory.
  5. Remove or rename the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/wlp directory.
  6. Extract wlp-core-embeddable-16.0.0.3.zip in the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT directory. The wlp directory is created. For example, $ unzip wlp-core-embeddable-16.0.0.3.zip -d $ES_INSTALL_ROOT
  7. Run the fix for WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile, 16003-wlp-archive-IFPI62375.jar. For example, $ java -jar 16003-wlp-archive-IFPI62375.jar --installLocation $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/wlp
  • Note: When you run the fix, use the JVM for which the major version is same as the version that is used by Watson Explorer, and the minor version is the latest minor version. For example, Java 7.0.9.60 for Watson Explorer V10.

• Using a text editor, set the $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/configurations/interfaces/indexservice__interface.ini classpath to be:
  classpath=es.indexservice.jar,antlr-2.7.2.jar,cloudscape/lib/derbyclient.jar,cloudscape/lib/derby.jar,an_icm.jar,es.dock.jar,oze_search.jar,wlp/dev/api/spec/com.ibm.ws.javaee.servlet.3.0_1.0.14.jar,es.rdf.jar,bcprov-jdk15-1.44.jar,fontbox-1.8.8.jar,jempbox-1.8.8.jar,pdfbox-1.8.8.jar

  • The new classpath replaces:
    classpath=es.indexservice.jar,antlr-2.7.2.jar,cloudscape/lib/derbyclient.jar,cloudscape/lib/derby.jar,an_icm.jar,es.dock.jar,oze_search.jar,wlp/dev/api/spec/com.ibm.ws.javaee.servlet.3.0_1.0.1.jar,es.rdf.jar,bcprov-jdk15-1.44.jar,fontbox-1.8.8.jar,jempbox-1.8.8.jar,pdfbox-1.8.8.jar

• After saving the changes, restart Annotation Administration Console.
  Watson Content Analytics| 3.5.0.4| CVE-2016-5983| Important: Perform these steps as a Watson Content Analytics administrative user, typically esadmin.

  1. Download 16.0.0.3-WS-WLP-IFPI62375 from <http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24042712&gt; and extract the contents of the fix into a temporary directory.
  2. Stop Watson Content Analytics.
  3. Run the fix for WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile, 16003-wlp-archive-IFPI62375.jar. For example, $ java -jar 16003-wlp-archive-IFPI62375.jar --installLocation $ES_INSTALL_ROOT/wlp
  4. Restart Watson Content Analytics.
     Watson Content Analytics| 3.5.0.0 - 3.5.0.3| CVE-2016-5986| Upgrade to Watson Content Analytics Version 3.5.0.4. For information about this version, and links to the software and release notes, see the download document. For information about upgrading, see the upgrade procedures.

Workarounds and Mitigations

None.