CVE-2024-49818: IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager Vulnerability Exposes Sensitive Information to Remote Attackers

IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager (SKLM) versions 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2., and 4.2.1 have been identified with a security vulnerability (CVE-2024-49818) that could allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information when a detailed technical error message is returned in the browser. This blog post will discuss the vulnerability, code snippets, original references, and exploit details to raise awareness and help users protect their systems.

Vulnerability Details

IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager is a centralized key management product that simplifies encryption key management processes for organizations. The vulnerability, CVE-2024-49818, exposes sensitive information to remote attackers when detailed technical error messages are returned to the browser. These error messages may contain critical information such as locations, filenames, or other potentially risky information.

An attacker could leverage this exposed sensitive information to craft targeted attacks against the affected system, with increased success rates. As of the time of writing, there are no publicly available exploits for this vulnerability.

Code Snippet

The vulnerability arises from improper handling of technical error messages. Instead of suppressing or genericizing the error messages, the application leaks sensitive information to the end-user. For example, in a typical error scenario, the browser would receive error messages that could look like the following:

{
    "status": 500,
    "error": "Internal Server Error",
    "exception": "org.springframework.jdbc.BadSqlGrammarException",
    "message": "PreparedStatementCallback; bad SQL grammar [...]; nested exception is java.sql.SQLSyntaxErrorException: [LOCATION_OF_SQL_ERROR]",
    "path": "/api/v1/sensitive_endpoint"
}

The error message above exposes the SQL error details and the location of the sensitive endpoint. With the knowledge of this error, an attacker could craft a specific attack against the system, potentially leading to more severe exploitation.

Original References

IBM has acknowledged the vulnerability and provided several resources and recommendations for users to mitigate the risk. The official IBM Security Advisory can be found here:

- IBM Security Advisory for IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager

Additionally, IBM has released patches for the affected versions of SKLM

- IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.1.2
- IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.2.2

Exploit Details

Though there are no known public exploits available for this vulnerability, the exposed sensitive information in detailed technical error messages may aid an attacker in crafting attacks against the affected system. By knowing specific locations, filenames, and further potentially risky information, attackers may exploit configuration weaknesses, launch targeted attacks, or even attempt unauthorized access attempts to the system.

Therefore, it is crucial for organizations that use IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager to apply the relevant patches and follow the recommendations provided by IBM. Additionally, always ensure that proper monitoring and alerting mechanisms are in place to detect and respond to security incidents in a timely manner.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we discussed the CVE-2024-49818 vulnerability in IBM Security Guardium Key Lifecycle Manager 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2., and 4.2.1. The issue allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information when detailed technical error messages are returned in the browser, potentially leading to further attacks against the system. Users are recommended to apply the relevant patches provided by IBM as soon as possible, as well as ensuring appropriate monitoring and alerting mechanisms are in place to protect their systems.

Timeline

Published on: 12/17/2024 18:15:24 UTC