Synopsis
While developing a Nessus plugin, Tenable found a file disclosure vulnerability in WebSphere Application Server Admin Console. The vulnerability is the result of a couple of issues:
- Insufficient validation of user input in the cheatSheetURI parameter allows attackers to submit arbitrary file paths.
- External XML DTD entities are enabled by default.
To trigger this vulnerability, the attacker must have sufficient access to create files on the WebSphere Application Server. The file the attacker needs to create contains an external entity declaration to the file they want to read. For example, the following contains an external declaration to /etc/passwd:
<!ENTITY % rrr SYSTEM "file:///etc/passwd"> <cheatsheet><intro><description>&rrr;</description></intro></cheatsheet>
An attacker with sufficient permissions can force WebSphere to disclose the contents of /etc/passwd by using directory traversal to the malicious XML via the cheatSheetURI parameter:
https://<IP address of your server>:9043/ibm/console/guidedactivity/cheatSheetNav.jsp?cheatSheetURI=../../../../../../../../../../../tmp/1.xmlThis allows an attacker to utilize IBM WebSphere Application Server's privileges to get access to confidential data stored on the vulnerable server.
Solution
IBM has released an advisory with patches for versions 7, 8, 8.5, and 9. Follow their patching guide to fix this vulnerability.Disclosure Timeline
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