CVE-2021-38935
📋 TL;DR
IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.2 does not enforce strong password policies by default, allowing weak passwords that can be easily guessed or brute-forced. This vulnerability affects all users of IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.2, potentially compromising user accounts and system security.
💻 Affected Systems
- IBM Maximo Asset Management
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain administrative access through weak passwords, leading to complete system compromise, data theft, and unauthorized control over asset management operations.
Likely Case
Attackers compromise standard user accounts through password guessing or brute-force attacks, gaining access to sensitive asset data and performing unauthorized actions.
If Mitigated
With strong password policies enforced, account compromise risk is significantly reduced, though other authentication vulnerabilities could still exist.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires valid user accounts but can be automated with password guessing tools.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Apply interim fix or upgrade as per IBM advisory
Vendor Advisory: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6557318
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Review IBM advisory at provided URL
2. Apply recommended interim fix or upgrade
3. Restart Maximo services
4. Verify password policy enforcement
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Enforce Strong Password Policy
allManually configure Maximo to require strong passwords (minimum length, complexity, expiration)
Configure via Maximo System Properties: mxe.security.passwordpolicy.* settings
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement multi-factor authentication for all accounts
- Enforce network segmentation and limit access to Maximo systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if password policy is enforced by attempting to set weak passwords via user interfaceCheck Version:
Check Maximo version via application interface or database queryVerify Fix Applied:
Verify strong password requirements are enforced and cannot be bypassed📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed login attempts from single source
- Successful logins after many failures
- Password change events to weak passwords
Network Indicators:
- Brute-force attack patterns against authentication endpoints
- Unusual authentication traffic
SIEM Query:
source="maximo" AND (event_type="login_failure" count>10 within 5min OR event_type="login_success" after multiple failures)